You I Wind Land and Sea
by ninja awesome monkey
Summary: I was sure that this was it, I was sure that once I stepped through those glass doors I would never see the light of day again. With one last exhale I pushed opened the door stepping into the room.
1. List

**list of people in the story**

phaerae

ace

lark

Tobi

Eric

Aello

Al


	2. powers

**list of people in the story**

phaerae

ace

lark

Tobi

Eric

Aello

Al


	3. Spidy Wolfe

Ace POV

My arms were crossed tightly across my chest as I quickly twitched my leg nervously.

_Who even put those kind of adds on the internet? _I thought, second guessing my decision to come.

I began to rise out of seat when the door opened making the small bell ring noisily. A girl around my age walked through. She had reddish brown hair with long purple streaks running through it and wore long black jeans with a purple T-shirt with a black leather jacket.

I narrowed my eyes and leaned over the table of the small booth. Starring her down, she looked around before locking eyes with me. She slowly glided over, slipping into the sit across from me.

"Hey," she said confidently. I leaned back scratching my neck.

"Hi," I said stiffly. Both our eyes were sizing up the other when we heard the loud ring.

Phaerea POV

As I slowly descended, my wings sliced through the air easily and I dove to the grassy field a little over a mile away from the meeting spot. I shook out my wavy hair, which was now frizzing from the humidity of the afternoon.

I walked for about fifteen minutes until I found a small corner shop. I looked down at my crumpled piece of paper again nervously.

_7834 Crown Wood Ave, _I read once more, although the address had already been memorized. I took a steadying breath before walking into the shop with my head held high.

When I pushed open the door I was met with almost complete silence, only the sound a few plates rustling in the kitchen could be heard as I looked around till I found a large table filled with teenagers around my age. I slowly walked over as all their eyes followed me.

"What's your name?" a boy with shaggy black hair asked.

"Phaerea," I said loudly, as if it were extremely important that they all heard. It was silent before I spoke up.

"How about we go around and just tell everyone our names and our ability. That way, we can get to know each other quickly." I said, looking at them all before continuing. "My name, like I said before, is Phaerea Avery, and I can propel fire from anywhere on my body." As I finished speaking, I took my seat in an open chair near the head of the table.

The girl sitting next to me quickly pitched in.

"My name is Ace, and I can fly and I have amazing aim. Just watch."

She quickly stood up digging through her pocket pulling out a nickel and letting it fall onto the table before walking across the room. She pulled out a small piece of paper before throwing it. I watched in amazement as it landed perfectly in the middle of the coin.

She walked back before sitting down with a cocky grin plastered on her face. Another girl began to speak.

"My name is October Friday Jones, and I can-" the girl was soon cut off by a boy across the table; his hand covered his mouth as he tried to hide a laugh. He had a large ugly scar that went down his face right across his left eye that was closed. The girl clenched her jaw staring irritatedly at the boy.

"Do you have a problem?" she said, venom leaking out in her voice.

"Oh, no no, " he said trying to hide the large grin on his face. October's hair began to change color from reddish brown to completely red. She took a shaky breath trying to control her anger before continuing.

"Like I was saying, I can control other people abilities for an amount of time or just use it against them," she said, her fingers tightly gripping the edge of the table. "And you can just call me Tobi."

"My name is Lark, and I can fly and I can fly fast." She said as she looked around the room, at the new and unfamiliar faces.

"My name is Eric, and I can blow up owts of stuff" he said his voice running with a thick accent.

"Where are you from?" I asked out of curiosity.

"London, England." He grinned while he spoke.

I pursed my lips, nodding before the next person continued..

"Name is Al, Al Golston and I have enhanced senses." The boy with the long scar said, grinning like a fool.

We all turned to the last boy. He had pale white hair that was pulled back in a pony tail and wore aviators. He shifted slightly before opening his mouth.

"My name is Aello and I am part snake." He said quietly.

I started at him with confusion until I heard a loud clatter, followed shortly by man walking out of the kitchen wearing a white dress shirts and black pants.

"Hello, welcome to Patty's Pancake house, can I get you all anything?" I began to open my mouth when Al interrupted my train of thought.

"I'll have three platters of the house special" he said. The waiter nodded, taking his order before looking back up at us.

"Anything else?" he asked, his eyes clearly showing boredom. I quickly shook my head everyone else was quite as well.

"Alright, three plates coming up," he said, grinning at us. "Oh, and this came for you," placing and envelope on the table. I looked around the small group before snatching it as the waiter left. I then quickly ripped it open.

A piece of paper fell out and Ace picked it up.

"Welcome Aello, Ace, Phaerea, Eric, October, Lark, and Al-" she was soon cut off by Al.

"Why am I last?"

"Oh shut it" Lark snapped, glaring at Al.

"-You have all made it to the starting location of your new assignment. Who am I? You all do not need to know that right now. Now you need to deal with the notorious Eraser named Hecate Reseal, an ex-convict kept in the school for ten years before he escaped." Ace took a large breathe before continuing.

"He is known to be in your location which is one of the reasons I brought you all there together. Now I know that Squads or so called 'flocks' need alphas and betas. So here it is: Phaerea I appoint you leader of squad and Ace in second command. If you disobey this appointment, you will all be dead men walking."

Everyone was silent for a second before Tobi spoke up.

"Isn't that kind of selective? The two with wings."

"I have wings," Lark snapped.

"Guess you didn't make the cut," Al said, grinning. Lark glared over to him grinding her teeth.

"I'll show you a cut!" she growled before all hell broke loose.

Tobi POV

The loud ear piercing scream made everyone duck for cover, clutching their ears in agony. It was seconds later before it ended and we were able to assess what had actually happened.

"Outside," Al said, his tone now extremely serious. "Six erasers, how did I not see them? It's like they just came out of nowhere."

"We can deal with that later. Let's get out here and see what's happening!" Ace said. She pushed away from the table and ran over to the door when two large hairy arms grabbed her.

The once-waiter was now a large, snarling Eraser with one cut eye. "Going somewhere?" He growled. I watched as a drop of saliva rolled down his chin.

"Put her down!" Eric yelled, now everyone standing up full alert.

"What will you do?" He asked. I felt a burst of heat by my side and watched a large fire ball hit the wall where the Eraser's head was, but the beast had quickly ducked away. He slowly came out from behind Ace's protective body chuckling.

"Well isn't that interesting?" He chuckled with an evil cackle, "You see it just so happens you aren't the only one with powers." He began walking over to the wall of the shop.

"When I was a young Eraser -younger at least- the mad scientist did some… experiments on me. Maybe they had just watched Spiderman. I'm not sure, but the outcome was this." He quickly snapped his right arm out and a string of white web shot out of his wrist.

Ace went along with it now being held in place at the corner of the shop. There was a loud bang before six other big Erasers strolled through with grins.

This was not good.

I watched as the scene played out in front of my eyes. I felt my limbs shaking as I felt my power began to swim through my blood. What was the spider's biggest predator? One word, me.

I shot forward, jumping into the air while the ugly wolf spider shot a web at me. I spun in the air as it splattered against the far wall falling on my feet before cracking my hands forward. A large gust of web propelled out hitting the big ugly Eraser in the head sticking to his eyes.

"What are you doing fools! Attack!" He yelled, scratching the web out of his eyes. The six Erasers ran forward all teeth barred, my stomach dropped as I saw their eyes hungrily watch me. That when I felt five bodies fly by me.

I saw the remaining five people begin to fight the large Erasers. It wasn't long till I felt a heavy object hit me and in a second found myself pinned to the wall by a large white web.

"You have got to be kidding me." I muttered pulling Phaerea's power as my body began to heat up the whole netting falling apart as I fell to the ground.

"A little copy cat are you?" The big Eraser said. I quickly shook off his comment as I raced toward him, dodging as he shot at me with web.

"Here!" I heard Al shout and glanced down to see him kneeling in front of me. I nodded in understanding, taking the opportunity to jump from his back onto the Eraser's face. That had been a much better idea than the one in my head.

"Let me out!" Ace shouted as she struggled against the webbing. The Eraser growled. He was whipping his head back and forth as I sat on his shoulders, being thrown around. His claws missed me by inches as he finally slammed into the wall. I took the opportunity to grab Ace and yank her out.

"Thank you!" she yelled before assisting me with the fight.

More and more of the squad joined us as the other Erasers fled. The large Eraser backed up on a wall snarled.

"No where else to run." Lark spat.

"You sure about that?" He chuckled. He looked around when Aello sprang forward, but he wasn't quick enough. The Eraser had already jumped up and crashed through the roof, beating its large, black wings in the air.

"See ya later children!" he called down, laughing.

"No!" Lark growled. She showed no hesitation before jumping onto the wall and propelling up into the air, her wings beating at full speed. She looked like a bullet when she finally hit the Eraser.

When she was out of view from inside the restaurant, everyone raced outside to see what had occurred. We found Lark lying on the ground, with no one beside her.

"What? You had him!" I said now running forward.

"I know, He just disappeared."

"Impossible," Eric muttered.

I stared in disbelief. Lark slowly stood up with Al's assistance.

"Now what?" Aello mumbled. We all slowly turned to Phaerea. She opened her mouth but nothing came out as she glanced around us.

"We need to find somewhere to stay." Ace piped in.

"Yeah," Phaerea agreed, the word itself practically a sigh of relief. We all nodded and began to walk toward the heart of the small town.

Ace slowly walked up to me bumping me on the shoulder, I glanced at her feeling as if I known her for years though in reality it had been only a few short hours.

I never had a friend, well a true one. But I thought back to the moment Ace was captured in the netting, my whole body shook with terror. Why was this though? There was no reason I should have such a protective attitude over her, heck I had only known her for less then a day, and the only conversation we had was a short and awkward one at the very beginning. My mind spun at this emotion unable to grasp at it.

"Hey," I mumbled.

"I just wanted to say thanks for back there," she said casually.

"No problem," I paused looking at the group. "I've got your back." Ace looked at me and nodded a mutual friendship beginning to blossom.

Lark POV

I slowly walked out of the cheap bathroom in the motel that we had bought with some extra cash that Eric held. We could only get one room which caused some distress with Tobi as she paced the room.

"What's wrong Tobi?" Eric asked.

"Why did we have to get such a small room? I can hardly breathe!" she said wildly. I rolled my eyes and fell onto the nearest bed, rolling on my side only to find one buggy eye staring at me. I jumped back with a startling yelp.

"Oh my! Why would you do that?" I yelled, placing my hand over my heart. He began to laugh.

"Oh girls, always good for a good laugh" Al muttered. My face began to grow hot as I shot forward only inches from his face.

He shrieked, toppling over onto his back. I stood over him grinning.

"Oh boys, always good for a laugh." I said before spinning on my heels and walking as far away from Al as the small room would allow. He stood up, anger prominently swimming across his face

"That wasn't fair!" He exclaimed, whining like a little boy.

"Going to tell your mom on me?" I laughed.

He snapped his mouth closed turning around and sitting on the floor. I felt a pain of guilt spread through out my body. It wasn't quite fair to pull the parent card on him. Everyone here had to leave their families, though I was most was happy to get away from mine.

"Enough bickering," Phaerea said, stepping in the middle of the room. "We need to discuss what happened today."

"We fought some Erasers?" Aello said.

"The same Eraser who handed us the letter, they have to connected." Ace said standing up. Tobi stopped for a second looking around at us.

"I don't know if that thing was and Eraser, it was so…different from the others," she said.

"Yeah," Phaerea whispered, looking in deep thought.

"Maybe it was just an experiment gone wrong." Eric suggested as he walked to Phaerea's side.

"Maybe…"

"I am so hungry! Can we please talk about this in the morning?" Al complained now sitting up. I hated myself for it, but I couldn't agree with him more.

"I'm really hungry too," I admitted.

"I saw a diner down the road," Ace said.

"Awesome!" Al said jumping up, Aello sighed with boredom looking at Al.

"We don't have any money, idiot."

"I know that." Al said, taking a moment to look at us all, "Just follow me."

"The dumpster?" Tobi spat. Al had already grabbed a few items of food and began to chow down.

"You can't…" he paused chewing the rest of the bite swallowing before taking another bite "…be picky."

I look hesitant poking at the food, which he had set aside for us.

"I guess its food," I muttered, grabbing a pizza box tearing it open. The rest of them were slow to follow but soon hunger overtook everyone and they began to shoving down the spare pieces, the fight from before out of out minds.

And so that is how it began, the squad's first meal together. It wasn't much just some expired food that the dinner had carelessly tossed away. But there was something, a slow molding formation, of a group of people that were beginning to become a squad

**Shout out to an awesome beta reader KaelynnD!**

**Please Review! it makes such a huge difference in my writing! **


	4. Air Trouble

Aello POV

I slowly looked up from my sitting position to find Eric walking out of the bathroom. Everyone was lying around the motel room. Ace and Lark slept on the bed while the rest slept either on chairs, sofas or the floor. In my case I sat leaning on the wall.

I never enjoyed sleeping, I hated that I couldn't control what was happening in my dreams, that I had to relive the horrors of my short life. Eric looked over at me and quickly smiled.

"Can't sleep mate?" he asked, sitting next to me. I cringed at how close he was, wishing I could be at least four feet away from him at the moment.

"Uh…yeah I guess you could say that," I muttered while gritting my teeth.

"You know you don't have to wear sunglasses in the room…and at night." He laughed. I narrowed my eyes and ignored him completely. He coughed quietly before standing back up.

"Anyways, I'll see you in the morning. Try to get some sleep," he mumbled before retreating to his sleeping place on the floor near Tobi and Phaerae.

It was no big surprise that I had made him uncomfortable. I supposed it was one of my special abilities. I regularly had people keep a fair distance away from me. The only reason I joined this squad was for extra protection and a way to get off the streets. I had a few people that were trying to hunt me down, and after what I did I couldn't blame them. But I don't regret my actions.

I began to doze off when I heard a shuffling of feet beyond the closed door of our room. My whole body tensed as the person stopped, standing in front of the door. I slowly stood up, making sure I made no sound. I heard someone stir and soon found Al looking up with his head slightly tilted.

I leisurely took off my aviators as I stood to the side of the door. My eyes soon changed, now sensing heat images. I looked over to the door to see a large body standing behind. The person was warm blooded, so it was no weird reptile hybrid. The person shifted before bending over and sliding a letter underneath the door.

I stared at the envelop for a second before looking back up to find the intruder gone. When I looked behind my shoulder I found Al standing a few feet away with his posture now alert and ready.

He picked the small envelope up, flipping it in his hand.

"Hey guys wake up!" he yelled, his tone serious.

"Bugger, what is it?" Eric grunted. Everyone stirred, groaning and moaning at the wake up call.

"What time is it?" Lark said, then looked at her watch. "Four o'clock!"

Al turned around, holding up the envelope

"This just came in." He said and grimaced.

"Can I see?" Phaerae said, and Al handed her the envelope. She slowly inspected the small piece of paper before tearing the envelop and taking out a piece of paper.

"Dear squad, it has now come to my attention that you passed your first test. Good job. Now that I can see that you are cut out for this gig, you will start your first assignment. But you will come to Dublin, Ireland, where you will find and defeat Hecate Reseal."

"How the heck are we supposed to do that with no money?" I spat. Phaerae held up seven tickets before continuing.

"I hope to see you all very soon! R.H." Everyone stood in silence for a few seconds before Al chipped in.

"So I guess we are going to Ireland?"

"I don't know…" Ace frowned. "Is it really safe to listen to this person when we don't even know who it is?"

"There is only one way to find out who it is," Lark said.

"Getting on a plane that this person scheduled might not be the smartest thing in the world." Eric mumbled.

"But how else will we find out who it is?" Al said.

"I hate planes," Tobi whined.

"It's a retarded idea, but I think we should, one way or another we need to figure out who this person is, and they just handed us an invitation." I muttered, Phaerae narrowed her eyes looking back down to the letters

"We leave. . .tomorrow" she said, placing the letter on a small side table.

Some people grumbled as they slowly fell back to their sleeping places.

"You know I heard the messenger, I could almost see him through the bottom crack in the door too," Al bragged.

"Tell that to someone who cares," Lark said, yawning as she lied back onto the bed. Al shut his mouth, falling back onto the sofa.

I glanced around the room before walking over to the window. Outside there was one car parked on the side of the street and two bikes. A drunk man staggered into the street wearing a blue Greek soccer jersey, and that's when I felt the small stab of heart ache. I was far from Greece. My childhood wasn't a pleasant one but that didn't mean I didn't love Greece, I hoped one day I would be able to return one day, one day.

I leaned against the wall, gradually sliding down until I was resting comfortably against it. After sitting there for some time, I finally fell asleep

Al's POV

I didn't have much to pack other then my tooth brush, sun glasses, and an extra pair of underwear. Tobi stood beside me, packing her things into a small, purple backpack.

"Man oh mighty Tobi!" I shouted, watching her try to fit her third brush into the small bag. "Why does a woman need more than one brush?"

She snapped her head up, glaring at me. "As it so happens this one," she said, holding up a smaller one "is not for my hair! But for my eyebrows."

I crossed my arms and smirked. "Are your eyebrows really that hairy?" I heard Lark choke on water that she was beginning to drink, trying to hide her laughter.

Tobi's hair began to flame red. _Oh no_.

"Whoops, angered the beast," I said, chuckling as I spoke.

"Bugger off mate," Eric said, looking between Tobi and me nervously. I lifted my hands in surrender.

"Sorry." I could feel Tobi's hateful eyes on the back of my head, and I knew that she was about to-

I quickly dodged to the left as Tobi slammed into the near wall. She looked like a cartoon as her whole body was turned up side down as she slowly slid down.

"Aw, the young grasshopper trying to match up to her master. Not a smart move." I laughed. She growled, jumping to her feet quickly before again charging like a raging bull. This time it wasn't me that stopped her.

"Cut it out guys, we leave in five." Phaerae said, placing her hand sternly on Tobi's head.

"But he-" Tobi began.

"Don't want to hear it!" Phaerae called over her shoulder as she began to move back to her bag. I quickly stuck out my tongue, turning my back on her. Tobi sensed my childish playing and quickly shoved me.

"Last call to Dublin" the speakers said as we all walked down the ramp towards the plane.

"I hate planes," Tobi whined, her eyes fearful.

"It will be fine," Eric said, sending her a reassuring expression through his eyes, but there was also a slightly sceptical tinge to the gaze.

"We will be there before you know it," Ace said as we all stepped onto the long inner tube.

When we finally took our seats, I was not thrilled to find Lark sitting next to me. Ever since her little parent comment I tried to ignore her. She growled when she saw that I was sitting down next to her.

"You have got to be kidding me." She muttered. I grinned down at her while placing my bag on the top shelf.

"Just you and me!" I said sarcastically before I dropped heavily into my seat.

Once the plane was high in the air the carts began to come around with my favourite part of the flight. A stewardess, probably around her mid-twenties, came up to our seats. She had fairly short, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. S_core, _I thought.

"Can I get y'all anything?" My heart seemed to skip a beat. She was southern too? How lucky can one man be? Lark opened her mouth but I raised my left hand making her shut it quickly.

"There is actually something," I said, grinning.

"What is it?" She asked while keeping a cheery smile on her face. I propped my elbow on the arm of my chair, giving her one of my famous Al toothy grins.

"You," I said smoothly, giving a small wink. Her grin soon dropped, and wrinkles began to form on her forehead, _Uh oh_.

"I'm sorry sir, what?" I lifted my hand to my mouth to cover an awkward cough.

"A coke?" I said, scratching my head.

"Alright," She said and nodded, her grin reappearing. She handed me a small plastic cup. "And you?" Lark was laughing loudly into her hand. I leaned back in my chair hoping if I pressed hard enough I could just melt into it.

"A water, please" she said. After she left Lark looked over to me with a huge grin consuming her face.

"Oh my…that was too good," she said, shaking her head as she took a sip of water.

"You just wish that could happen to you," I said, a chuckle escaping through my words.

"Why would I ever want you to-" I quickly cut her off.

"Who said I would be doing that? Now, now Lark, don't get any ideas. I only like women with southern accents." I said, then drank all the contents of my cup.

"I didn't say that!" she said, becoming very defensive.

"Oh, I believe you did."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Shut up!" Aello yelled. I closed my mouth tightly, glancing at Lark out of the corner of my eye.

"Did too." I said quickly before closing my eyes and pretending to go into a deep slumber, though I could still feel Lark's ever present glare.

I was woken up with a jolt as Lark shoved my shoulder.

"Wake up," she growled.

"What, where?" I yelled, shaking my head. I looked over to see Lark with her arms crossed tightly.

"Oh, hello." I rubbed at my one good eye as I spoke.

After another few seconds of silence I squinted at her.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You drooled on me, you dog!" She yelled, pointing to a spot on her shirt which was clearly wet.

"Oh, sorry," I chuckled.

"Stupid mutt," she mumbled under her breath.

I heard Eric walking up when I felt it; it was like my sixth sense. I could feel a shift in the atmosphere.

"You know I-" Lark began but I lifted my hand, my posture now serious. She soon caught on and started to look around the plane.

"What is it?" Eric asked, now right beside me.

"I don't know," I whispered, standing up and walking slowly down the isle towards first class. My eyes scanned the people to my right and left. I felt a body behind me, and I craned my head back to find Lark and Eric. Lark quickly nodded once as I kept walking forward.

When we finally made it to first class the speakers buzzed and a voice came on.

"Ladies and gentlemen please take your seat as we are going to be descending toward Dublin." It was a husky and deep voice. Where had I heard it before? The 'Please Fasten Seat Belts' sign clicked on just as the recognition clicked in my mind.

"Oh no," I whispered.

"What is it?" Eric asked.

"Get back," I growled as we all rushed to our seats. Phaerae was straining her neck trying to follow our actions. I crouched in front of her, turning my head to check all sides of my surroundings.

"What is it?" She asked.

"The Eraser," I said simply. Her whole stance turned serious and she soon was rising out of her seat when a hand fell onto her shoulder heavily.

"Miss, please stay seated." The husky voice cackled. I didn't wait this time and quickly spun on the balls of my feet, pulling my fist back before letting it snap forward. His human hand clutched his jaw as he fell into the lap of a man on the other side of the plane.

"John!" one of the flight attendants yelled just before running to him and helping him up.

"It's alright Margaret," he said, standing back up. "He and I go back" He then sprang forward, some of his clothes ripping at his transformation into his Eraser body. There was one loud scream that made my whole body buckle. The noise was so loud as it echoed through out the plane.

He was a millisecond from ripping me open, and all I could do was bring my hand up to clutch my head in defense. When I saw a body crash into him, I lowered my arms to find Lark wrestling with him on the ground. She managed to get one hard punch before she was thrown all the way to the back of the plane. I cringed as I heard the loud thump as she smacked against the wall.

Phaerae raced forward, springing into combat with him. She threw a punch only to have it blocked. The Eraser quickly grabbed her wrist, spinning her and bending her arm the wrong way. She let out a scream of agony before kicking her leg backwards hitting the Eraser in the groin.

The rest of the Squad joined in at the best of their ability considering the small leg room.

I looked back and forth between the fight and Lark who still had her eyes shut. I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to move through the fight, so I dodged to the seats, jumping along the backs of the seats. I received several startled yelps from people, but I didn't stop until I made it back to her.

Her mouth was slightly open and her whole face was flushed. I shook her shoulders, leaning my face close to her as I tried to wake her.

"Come on Lark!" I shouted.

Looking behind me I could see The Eraser slowly backing up the isle. "Come on Lark!" I shouted again, my face inching closer to her before her whole body jolted up, her forehead smacking me right in the eye. I fell backwards clutching it as I rolled on the ground in agony.

"I'm so sorry I-" she paused her eyes finally on me "Oh it's you." Her head snapped up to the action behind me, and soon she was up and running.

"Come on stupid!" She shouted, hitting me on the shoulder. I slowly got up, my eye half closed as I ran forward.

"This is what I get," I muttered. "This is why I hate girls."

Eric POV

My head snapped back as the Erasers cut the air, missing my head by inches. His back was pressed against the door of the plane as we fought. He let out a menacing growl, moving one of his hands behind his back.

"No!" Ace yelled but the Eraser had already found the handle for the door, and was sucked out into the night air. Everyone quickly grabbed something as the door acted like a vacuum.

Phaerae groaned as she tried to close the door. I had my arms wrapped around her tightly with my feet twisted around the base of a seat to keep the two of us from flying out as well. I only faintly registered the sound of the compartments above every seat opening. But the panic that quickly followed caught my attention.

Finally, Phaerae grunted just before she got the door to close with a loud thud. I let out a deep sigh, pulling my arms from around her waist and helping her to her feet.

"Thanks," she muttered, blowing a stray blonde strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Not a problem," I said, laughing as I bent over to catch my breath. I heard a loud smack and looked over to see Aello retract his fist from the side of the plane.

"He got away!" He yelled, turning around and kicking a loose suitcase that had fallen out of the overhead compartments during the commotion.

Ace collapsed onto the floor and let her head fall between her legs.

"He got away again!" Aello shouted once more. Phaerae grimaced, placing her hand on his shoulder. Aello fell backwards baring his teeth like a rogue animal. "Don't touch me! You think you are the leader? Go look in the mirror. You are no such thing." He spat, then spun around to walk back to his seat.

I walked up behind Phaerae.

"He didn't mean that." I muttered.

"Whatever," she mumbled. She kept her head down as she to walked back to her seat.

After we were all sitting, the plane landed with urgency. We were escorted off because of some who feared danger on board.

Once off though, we were surrounded my cameras and news reporters.

"Is it true you children put your life in danger?" A woman shouted with a thick Irish accent.

"What were you thinking when you saw him jump off the plane?" Another shouted. But before we could answer any questions a few blue's came to lead us off the runway.

We all sat in the back of the blue's car as we rolled through the city of Dublin.

"So this is Dublin," I said quietly.

"Where is my brush?" Tobi yelled, clawing at the insides of her backpack.

"Why do you need a brush?" Ace asked in confusion. Tobi looked at her with an expression that could have easily been translated to 'why do you think, idiot?'

"My hair was messed up during the plane ride," she whined.

"Oh my, call the police," Al said. "Oh wait, they're already here."

The two Blues chuckled a bit at his comment but Tobi most defiantly was not.

"Oh ha ha, Al, you're so funny." She rolled her eyes, finally giving up her search with a deep sigh and collapsed back into her seat.

"Let's just get to our hotel." Phaerae muttered. Everyone nodded their heads and soon became quiet for the remainder of the ride to the hotel

**Anouther huge shout out to KaelynnD for being such an awesome Beta reader!**

**And please review the more you review the better chance I will write in your characters POV!**


	5. City Life

**Ace POV**

The next few days were spent sleeping, eating, and looking at most of the tourist things in the area. Everyone was now closer to one another, and had a better understanding of each other's buttons and how to push them.

We were currently all walking home from the third castle we had seen and the sun was just beginning to set, giving everything an orange tint. But I heard the low hum of Al, breaking the peaceful mood. I recognized the song. It was the famous 'When the Saints Go Marching In.' Lark quickly tensed up, her eyes squinting.

Al paused for a second and looked over at Lark.

"This isn't bothering you right?" he said, smiling.

"No," Lark said with a shaky breath, "In fact I am enjoying it." Her teeth were gritting as the words came out.

"Good," Al said as he continued to hum. Lark held her tongue. Everyone knew it was better to put up with him, then giving in to the satisfaction to him.

Eric and Phaerae walked a few steps in front of everyone whispering to each other in low tones that probably only Al could hear.. Tobi walked at my shoulder her eyes glaring forward. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Aello broke my brush," she said simply. I quietly laughed, looking to my side at the pale, blonde-haired kid. Aello looked frightening, with his sharp teeth barred and pale skin looking to be almost pure white.

"Whatever. You have like ten more," he grunted. Tobi shot him daggers.

"I do not! I have one!" she yelled holding up her pointer finger, "Count them."

He snarled at her, acting very animalistic before stalking away.

Al suddenly hummed an extremely high note as he closed his eyes and raised a hand. That's when Lark snapped.

"Shut up you dog!" she yelled.

"What? I thought this was fine," he said and laughed.

"You are so annoying!" She screamed, cutting away from us with her hands balled in a fist. Al was still laughing pumping his fist in the air.

"Point, Al" he said, licking his finger and placing a mark in the air. He looked at us with a clownish grin. I slowly shook my head even though a smile threatened to emerge upon seeing his goofy expression.

"You guys are hopeless." He waved us off and began to start walking quicker. I looked over to Tobi to find her glaring at the ground.

"Are you still angry?" I asked. She nodded curtly, "Come on Tobi, it was just a brush."

She looked at me with a shocked face, as if she had just been slapped. She suddenly growled and turned away from me, walking towards Lark.

"I mean…" I started, but she had already crossed her arms and walked away. I sighed, trying to keep a steady pace until we reached the large hotel that we had been staying in for the last week. It had been a complementary gesture from Dublin's governor. I suppose he thought it would be easier to have a bunch of mutant kids contained in one area where he could find us, rather then running loose around the street.

When we were finally in the room I fell down onto the bed heavily, letting out a large groan. Lark fell beside me, hitting my shoulder with her fist lightly.

"Watch it," I growled. Chuckling, she shoved me again playfully.

"You sound like the big old wolf, loosen up will you?" she said, standing back up.

"Ace, can I talk to you outside?" Phaerae said, standing at the foot of the bed. I looked up and sighed before jumping off and following her outside.

"What is it? "I asked.

"Eric and I were talking and we think the squad needs to start up again, get out of this little vacation." She began. I stared blankly at her.

"I told you this two days ago," I said, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. "And you said 'after what has happened we need a break.'"

"Yes, well, I am agreeing with you now."

"Because Eric batted his eyes?" I asked my mouth curving upwards as her cheeks became flaming hot.

"It's not like that Ace. Now come on, cut it out," she said. "You are beginning to sound like Al."

I lifted one eye brow. "Al can't pull off my look" I said and soon we were both laughing. That was until we heard the loud crash. Phaerae rushed inside. I followed her to find Al with his hands out-stretched over a pile of broken plate.

"Al!" Phaerae yelled as she looked over the mess. "How many times do I have to tell you not to dance with plates, glasses, or anything breakable? After three times you think a boy would learn. I swear sometimes I sound like your mother!" She growled.

"But I didn't-" he began but Phaerae lifted her hand to silence him.

"No, I don't want to hear it. Just pick up your mess," she said then walked away.

Al grumbled a few colorful words before bending over. He looked over at Lark who was now retreating to the bathroom. I was about to turn away when I saw her lick her pointer finger and mark the air just before walking into the bathroom. Al saw it too and he grunted before returning to his work.

_That little minx,_I thought.

**Phaerae POV**

I splashed water on my face, letting out a deep sigh before looking back into the mirror. Ace was wrong. I wasn't just doing this because 'Eric batted his eyes.' I was doing this because I knew we had to get up and moving. I returned to the room where everyone was returning to their usual sleeping place.

"I have something to say" I called out, watching as everyone's heads turned to me. "We need to begin our search again. I know people have been getting comfortable with our vacation style living but we need to find out who this R.H person is and defeat Hecate Reseal."

"I don't think we should look as a group, we should split up and meet back up here," Ace said looking around at the others.

"That's a good idea," I said. "Ace, Tobi and Aello can go as one-"

I was soon cut off but Eric. "I can go with you," he stated.

I smirked, nodding my head to find Ace lifting an eyebrow. I coughed loudly as I tightened my right hand into a fist.

"Are you kidding?" Lark protested, "You are putting me, with him," she said, pointing at Al.

"You two need to start getting along. We have all had enough with this rivalry," I grunted before sitting down. "We will leave tomorrow morning, so get some rest. Before long only heavy breathing filled the air as everyone slowly drifted to sleep.

"Do we have everything?" I asked Eric. I waited while he checked our small bag again and nodded quickly.

"Okay everyone, let's make sure to get back here by seven at the latest. Don't make us go searching for you."

"Yes mom," Al muttered, standing beside a displeased Lark.

"Alright, break," I said, clapping my hands once. There was a few chuckles before everyone split up, and soon I was alone with Eric.

"Is there any place in particular you would like to start?" Eric asked. I couldn't tell if he was looking at me since his black hair fell over his eyes.

"I was thinking downtown Dublin?" I said, taking out a map.

"Sounds good to me."

Soon we were downtown, my whole expression in awe. Most of the buildings stood only a few stories tall. Built of stone and wood, each one had a large history to back it up. The street moved in a rustle of action as cars and buses whizzed by leaving my hair in a tumble.

"You haven't ever been to a European city, have you?" He said as he laughed at my expression.

"No," I admitted, "It's so…beautiful." I slowly spun in a small circle to take it all in.

"Dublin does remind me of London. You would surely love it there," he said, grinning at me as I finally stopped and smiled goofy at him. "We need to get back to work. I think we need to start talking to people ask if anyone knows how this Hecate is."

Eric nodded and soon we were walking into a small café, We took a seat at a round table beside the window. Two old men walked in and sat at the table to the right of us.

"Hello there mates," Eric said, taking the lead in our search.

"Hello, you sound like one of those Englishmen!" The man with a button up flannel shirt said, his eyes squinting.

"Guilty," Eric said simply. The other man started to laugh.

"Be careful where you show your face boy, lots would want to see a English lad around here," the first one said, holding out his hand. "The name is Josh." Eric shook his hand.

"Eric," he said, then looked to the other man.

"Dane," he grunted.

"Phaerae," I said. Each man extended his hand for me to shake. As I took Josh's hand, he pulled me closer to him to better examine my face.

"What an unusual name," he said. He looked on at me for a moment longer before shifting his gaze back to Eric. "This your girl?" He asked with a glint in his eye. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed as though he was trying to make Eric uncomfortable.

However, Eric only chuckled. It turned out to be me that felt the awkward edge of the question. First Ace's comment about Eric and me, now this? Why were people seeing something here?

I glanced up to Eric to await his response.

"Nah, but she wishes," he joked. He tilted his head over to show me his clearly jesting expression. I found myself smiling at his words while Josh and Dane laughed.

"Then you had better snatch her up quickly, lad! She is too pretty to be left alone," Dane said as he placed his elbows on the table to support his head in his hands. His chin rested on the back of his interlocked hands as he proudly smirked at his comment, which Eric ignored.

"How long have you been in Dublin?" Josh asked.

"A few days," I said, giving a crooked grin.

"We were actually wondering if you could help us. A buddy of mine told me to meet up with a Hecate Reseal, but I lost his address on the way over. Do you know where I could find him?"

"Reseal! Great old buddy of my son he is. I'll just give him a quick ring," Josh said, grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket dialing a couple of numbers.

"Hey, Ian do you know where Reseal is these days? Got a few kids here asking for him," he said into the phone. "Oh I see, yeah….okay, bye." He snapped the phone shut then looked to Eric and me.

"I'm afraid his out camping this week, sorry kids."

"No problem," Eric said, turning back to me. "Well, did you still want to go to the park?" he asked.

"Not a couple my arse," Dane whispered to Josh rather loudly.

"Of course," I said, playing along with Eric's game.

"Have a great afternoon," Eric said, beginning to walk out with me.

"Bye!" I shouted back at them, waving as we left. They nodded at us before we walked back into the fresh air.

We reached the hotel around six-thirty having learned nothing other than Reseal was friends with Josh's son. After walking in we found Tobi, Ace, and Aello all sitting on the floor talking among themselves.

"Find anything?" Aello asked. I shook my head dropping the bag on the ground and walking over to them.

"You?"

"No," Ace said, sounding disappointed.

"Only two left," Eric said, walking to my side.

"If they haven't killed each other yet," Tobi said.

"That is a large possibility," I said, grinning down at them before walking over to the chair and sitting down.

It was another twenty minutes before Al and Lark walked through the door, both looking around nervously.

"What is up with you two?" Aello said, looking at both of them suspiciously.

"We found something," Lark said as she pulled out Al's MP3 player that he had kept with him since the beginning.

"You found a new artist that you really like?" Tobi said puzzled.

Lark glared before continuing. "We were walking around the city when we found a large factory on the road. We walked up to it and I flew to the roof. Luckily I had just taken Al's MP3 player so that he couldn't keep ignoring me." She said as she snapped her head towards him.

"I could hear you! Remember, great senses," he said, tapping his ears.

"Anyways, I could hear voices coming from inside so I pulled up the voice recorder and recorded this." She clicked a button to start the recording.

"They are here?" a man's voice grunted.

"Yes," a woman's voice answered.

"How much longer until they are ready?"

"A few days, perhaps."

"Until then I'll stay hidden, right?"

"Yes you idiot," the woman growled. "Just don't screw this up like you did on the plane, you nearly killed the girl." The voices ended and Lark slowly looked back up at us.

Everything was silent before Aello spoke up.

"Well that's a large clue."

"We think it's the School" Al blurted out.

"We don't know that," Ace said looking at him with concern.

"You have got to be kidding. You don't think this is the School?" Lark said pointing to the MP3 player.

"Well, no," Ace said, pausing to collect her thoughts. "The school usually goes for younger kids, not people our age."

"You don't know that for sure," Al hissed, his stance now defensive.

"Now let's just all calm down," I said, raising my hands in an attempt to calm everyone, "I agree with Ace. It doesn't seem like the school."

"This is probably just one large trap!" Lark shouted, "have you ever thought of that?"

"Of course," I retorted. "But until I know for sure I think we should still investigate, but with more caution."

"You have got to be joking," Al grunted.

"I can't be here right now," Lark mumbled, dropping the music player on the bed before opening the window.

"No wait!" I yelled, but it was too late. She was already gone and shooting through the sky.

Al looked at us with narrowed eyes. "For once I agree with the girl," he said, yanking the hotel door open. Eric ran after him but after a few minutes came back with a sadden face. Without Eric even speaking a word I knew that both of them were now gone.

"They're gone," I whispered, looking at the ground. The squad wasn't even a month old and I had already failed them.

**Lark's POV**

I flew for some ten minutes before reaching the WardRiverValleyPark. The trees were full with green as the sun slowly slid down from the sky.

_They are crazy,_I thought to myself. Why would they still want to continue with the hard evidence right in front of them?

I descended to a branch which shook gently as I landed. Once I was sure that it was suitable to hold my weight, I found a position comfortable to lie down in. I had grown accustomed to sleeping in trees since I had escaped from the School. Before joining up with this squad, I had spent most nights in them.

It was half an hour later before I heard a shuffling of leaves down below. I leaned to my side to look down. To my dismay, I found Al looking up at me with his common goofy grin.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Doing the same thing you are, getting away from the idiots," he said and began to climb the tree. "Ugh, how do you do this?"

"How did you even find me?" I asked in disbelief.

"Nose, plus my awesome wolfy instincts."

"Ew, you know my scent?" I asked, leaning back as he had finally made it up to my thick branch.

"Don't take it as a compliment. I automatically know everyone when I am near them," he said, leaning back, "And you shouldn't be the one saying 'ew,' I am the one who has to smell you twenty-four-seven." He began to chuckle, closing his one eye.

"Why did you even try to find me?" I said crossing my arms.

"Did you really want to sleep by yourself?" He asked, opening his eye again.

"I have done it thousands of times."

"Me too," he said. "I was just curious what it would feel like to have somewhere in the tree with me…It's strange." I was silent for a few seconds as I watched him inspect his hand before looking back at me.

"I was raised by the School too, you know." he grumbled.

"Oh god, please tell me you aren't going to start crying" I said, cringing.

"No… Just thought you should know you aren't the only one in this group who had a horrible childhood."

"Well…I guess thank you for telling me," I said, slurring the words I never wanted to say to him, _thank you._

"Not to be rude but after spending a whole day with you, I am quite tired. I think I am going to try to get some sleep." He mumbled, his eye already closed.

"Wow, it's like eight. You're a big party animal," I said, rolling my eyes, but mine also felt quite heavy at the moment.

"Shut it," he warned.

"Goodnight" and soon his breaths became shallow his body slumped over.

"Goodnight," I whispered, slowly closing my eyes before falling into a deep sleep.

Remember Review and you get cookies! well not really but still review! and sorry about that small break

big shout out to KaelynnD or there wouldn't be a You I wind land and sea!


	6. Rasta

I slowly crept back to consciousness as I felt a heavy weight on my chest. Warm, rhythmic breaths blew on my neck softly, sending shivers down my spine. I looked down to find a sprawl of strawberry red hair resting wildly across my shirt. My one good-eye widened like a saucer when I saw the body that was connected to that hair.

"Damn…" I cursed silently.

I stirred, unsure on what to do. Lark squirmed and grasped at my shirt, nuzzling into my side. I shut my eye quickly, feigning sleep as Lark grumbled. I felt her hands work their way up my shirt to my neck where they then froze. Her hands pushed off me, her head snapped towards me as I remained motionless. She suddenly froze. I could only guess that her mind was trying to wrap around this insanely ridiculous situation.

Her body inched its way off of mine cautiously, backing towards her side of the branch and sighing in relief loudly. She made it seem as if any sudden movements would cause me to pounce. I peeked open my eye to see her hugging her knees, her face pointed at the sky as she watched the sun rise. I almost smirked, but waited another five minutes before I thought it was safe to act out my awakening. I grunted loudly, rubbing sleep from my eye and flopping onto my stomach. I made a show of stretching my legs and arms out in the most satisfying way.

"Why the long face?" I asked, a smirk almost gracing my face when I saw her surprised and guilty eyes snap to mine. Her cheeks immediately flushed red and she looked back out at the view.

"N-nothing," she stuttered, straightening out her unkempt hair with her fingers.

"O-kay" I dragged on, raising an accusing eyebrow.

"We need to go back to the squad," Lark declared suddenly.

"What! I can't go back there! They think that it's safe to investigate the school. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go back to that living hell," I spat, sitting back up.

"Of course I don't! But we can't just leave them. They need us if they want to survive," she said. As she spoke, she slapped me on the knee.

"Ouch."

"That didn't hurt," she accused, rolling her eyes. She quickly swung her legs over the branch, and looked at me expectantly, "Coming?"

"You aren't going to just fly away?" I asked with wide eyes (or, wide eye, I suppose you could say). She bit her lower lip for a second while seriously contemplating it.

"I can't just leave you. You'll probably get distracted by a few chicks and never show up," she teased, jumping off the tree and landing smoothly

"No!" I yelled down at her, "Those chicks would get distracted by _me_!"

"You are funny. I'll give you that," she said, straightening up, "If anything though, they aren't even looking at you until you jump in their faces!"

At that moment, I let myself fall off the branch and landed right in front of her, our foreheads just inches apart. She inhaled sharply as I stepped away.

She paused a second before speaking with a small nervous chuckle, "See? All up in their personal bubbles!"

I sent her a quick smile, "Well, I have to make them see me somehow."

Lark was silent for a second before speaking up again.

"We need to leave." She began to walk quickly, trying to get as much space between the two of us as possible. I caught up, walking to her side as the sun began to slowly rise over the horizon. The streets were now buzzing with traffic and people. I saw a few women walking past and admired them, but didn't act on any of my usual behaviors. Generally, I would already be at each women, feeding them a cheesy line as they so gracefully blew me off. But today, I simply watched them walk by. I had no urge to go and pant like a little dog, nor did I even want them to come up to me.

_What was wrong with me?_

"What's wrong with you?" Lark voiced my inner thought. My eye widened but I quickly shook it off, taking it as a freaky coincidence.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "I'm fine,"

"I have seen a number of girls, yet none of them have caught your eye?" She questioned.

"We are on a mission, Lark. Can't be distracted by meaningless women."

"You didn't think that yesterday when we were actually on a mission," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well just be glad I'm not," I said, grunting as I turned away from her.

She was silent after that as we walked back to the hotel in a somewhat awkward form.

I didn't understand why this was happening to me, I usual be all over each girl in my eye sight, trying to get each phone number. What was different today?

**Tobi's POV**

I woke up and saw that Phaerae had large lines under her eyes. Her whole expression was sunken with grief due to the lost of two of the squad members. It's amazing how you can know some people so well after spending only two weeks with them. Even I was feeling depressed at their sudden absence.

I heard a small click of the window and found Lark pushing her way through, her face giving no emotion away. Phaerae let out a large breath, smiling weakly over at Lark

"You came back," I stated.

"We," another, deeper voice said. I looked over to find Al coming through the door. His hair was messy and his one eye scanned all of us.

"We knew you couldn't last without us," Lark said as she shrugged. Ace raised an eyebrow, smirking. Eric was grinning from cheek to cheek. His long dark hair pooled over his eyes and he swept it aside to get a better look at them.

"Maybe you were right. You are the only two who know the school well," Phaerae said, as she stood up straight.

"I lived in the school for awhile…" Aello muttered. He was the only one who showed no emotional reaction to their entrance. Everyone turned around, looking at Aello in surprise.

"You did?" Eric asked

"I'm sorry you just don't talk about your past much," Phaerae said, beginning to try to cover her tracks.

"You never asked."

"Well, would you tell us? It might help to know what you know," Ace said, moving to sit on the bed.

"Should have never opened my mouth," Aello mumbled under his breath, but looked back up to scan his eyes over the squad as everyone took a seat.

"It started like most everyone else. When the scientists figured out they could make me part snake, they quickly jumped on the idea, pushing me through extremely painful experiments until they got it right….."

**Aello POV**

"I was kept in a small cell in the south ofGreece, I got two meals a day, live food…"

_My small body was backed up to the wall as I heard the small door at the base of the floor open. I heard a set of paws come scurrying through. I knew they would be watching; they always watched. I pushed myself closer to the wall, trying to make this meal not feel my presence. It wasn't until it began to move that I sprang forward, sinking my retractable fangs into its neck. I then ran back to the end of the cellar and ripped it apart._

"Twice a day, aroundnoonand sunset, I would get one small rat, barely enough to keep my body functioning. But this was even better then what was waiting for me..."

"_Come on," a guard spat in Greek, pushing me forward towards the door. This time we went towards the front door. Could it be? Were they finally letting me go? When the doors opened, the sun flooded all of my senses and the world around me suddenly looked scary and new, the brightness burning my eyes. The guard pushed me to the side where I caught sight of a large black van._

_The guard threw me into the back of the van. The force of his throw slammed me into the far wall, and I was given no time to right myself before the vehicle raced forward._

_The next thing I knew, the doors opened. Light flooded in, its rays killing my eyes as my protective shades were ripped off. I tried to shield my eyes when I felt a sharp pinch in my side. I let out a scream, twisting my upper body and clawing at the open air. The drugs only took a few seconds before I fell limbless onto the ground_

_I could feel my nakedness when I woke, and soon a splash of water. I shouted a few Greek select words when I felt a hard slap across my face. _

"_Shut up you animal!" A husky voice screamed._

_Animal? I knew this was not true. Even though I was four percent snake, this defiantly didn't make me an animal. I opened my mouth again to protest, but was stopped when I felt a fist contact my face. As that fist hit me, I felt my sanity –or what was left of it- disappear.. _

_Three months later…_

_I was owned, the pet of Tom Barren, Violet Barren, and their son John Barren. They named me Rasta the pet snake _

"_Rasta!" A shrill scream shouted from the hallway, and in came running John. He was much shorter than me. but still he believed his father in that I was only a animal. _

"_What will we do today Rasta?" He shouted into my face. I stared at him, my mind numb as my eyes fell with lifelessness. Most pets were lucky; they only had to spend around fifteen years with their owners, but I was stuck herefor life. I would surely outlive them all, even John who was a few years younger. I sighed looking at the ground in defeat. (_

"_I know!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "We will play cops and robbers!"_

_One year later… _

_I felt myself change. My body was shifting upwards, my hair was now long enough that I had to tie it back everyday. My muscles grew quickly, to the point that I towered over Tom. _

_I was looking for John during a game of hide and seek. Deciding to search Tom's study, I entered slowly. Tom was sitting at his desk with the newspaper covering his face. When he heard my entrance, he lowered it down to where I could see his face. A pair of aviators shielded his eyes, though from what I couldn't be sure. Even while indoors, he had the luxury of sunglasses. I dealt daily with the sun's rays burning my eyes. He wore them to mock me.)_

"_Why did I even keep you alive? Are you suppose to be human, I can't even tell." He spat into my face. I slowly whipped his spit of my face gritting my teeth. _

_His eyes studied me before pushing past. I watched as he moved to the kitchen. I could hear the rustle of drawers and soon found him returning with a large knife in his hand. My eyes widened as I looked from him back to the knife._

"_W-what are you doing?" I spluttered weakly, backing away from him._

"_No one will even care," he muttered. "No one will even look." He held the knife up and I smelled the large amount of alcohol resonating form his breath. I stumbled backwards until I was pinned against the wall. His hand reached out, grabbing my baggy shirt and pulling me close to him._

"_I'm going to kill you," he stated, searching my face. He spoke the words calmly like someone telling another "I'm going to get a gift for you on your birthday." I gulped loudly as my whole body shook with terror._

"_Do you know why I am going to kill you?" He questioned. I shook my head quickly, staring down at the large shining knife in his fat hand._

"_I spent ten million dollars on you," he began, pressing the knife to my throat lightly. "I know you're retarded, but that's a lot, and usually when I spend that much money I like my things to work. But you don't work. You are just….some…some parasite living in my house." He pressed the knife close enough to draw blood._

"_I can't just dump you on the street because people would see you. You could open your ugly mouth." He bit his lips roughly as he looked into my eyes "But if you were cutting something and had an accident it would be a totally different story."_

_My breath was heavy in my lungs as my body reacted quickly. When I saw his arm flex I dropped to the floor with lightening speed, kicking out his feet. He fell as loudly. When he hit the floor, the knife bounced away. _

_I heard the front door open and Violet's voice carried through the large house._

"_Hello? Anyone home?" Tom stared at me, getting up quickly and running over to the door, grabbing the knife on his way. I stared down at my hands. I never knew I could move that quickly._

"_Help!" Tom yelled, his voice shaking as I saw John run past the study. "Call the police!"_

"_What's going on, Tom?"_

_I slowly walked through the hallways, coming up to the large kitchen where the whole family stood._

"_Rasta?"John whimpered, peering around his mother's side. I felt every memory rush back of him using me as a play thing._

_I ran forward, jumping off of one wall. I felt my teeth grow into large fangs. I opened my mouth and aimed directly at John. I made sure to be quick as my teeth glided across his neck before he slumped to the ground._

_Violet let out an agonized scream. Her eyes were wide with terror as I spun around, my eyes glowing red._

"_Animal," I spat. My breath came out ragged and leaking with pure adrenaline. " I'll show you animal!" I jumped forward, landing in front of Violet, quickly silencing her before turning to find Tom running down the hallway. _

_I let out a loud screech, sprinting forward and jumping from different furniture to the walls._

"_Going somewhere, Sir?" I screamed, tossing my head backwards. He let out a scream of terror and tried to quicken his pace. But it was too late. I had already snagged his leg, making him go tumbling on the ground. I walked forward, placing my foot onto his throat._

_I glared down at him._

"_I'm going to enjoy this." I grinned licking my pointed teeth._

_"Please Rasta I have given you a home, food to eat!" _

_'You have given me nothing," I paused glaring at him threw blood shot eyes "I am a pet to you" _

_He struggled for words, "if you kill me you will be as bad as me!" he screamed. "You wouldn't want to turn out like me right?" _

_I slowly stepped on his leg pressing down with get strength till I heard a snap, and a loud shriek from Tom. _

_"I am not like you Tom" I whispered slowly leaning down "I am worst" Drool ran down my chin falling on Tom's oily nose. _

_"W-what are you going to do to me?" he asked._

_I began to laugh loudly throwing my head back my laughter echoing off the white walls. _

_"Only time will tell," I muttered threw sharp teeth, and with that I shot down grabbing one of his arms and twisting till I felt a release. _

_**. _

_I took one last glance at Tom's mangled body before reaching down and grabbing his sunglasses_

"_Don't mind if I do."_

"After I killed him I ran away and have lived on the streets since." As I finished, I glanced around the room to read everyone's expression. They all wore a similar one. It was a gaze of terror, though I wasn't sure whether it was at my story or me.

Phaerae extended a shaking hand but her fingers curled into a fist as she pulled her hand back.

"I don't know what to say," Ace said.

"Well, we all now know not to mess with Aello. That is, if we don't want our throats ripped open," Al muttered as he rubbed his neck.

"Yes well, I hope that helps," I said, walking away towards the bathroom and locking the door. I sank down the wall while tears began burning my cheeks. I had never told the whole story and never knew the affect that it would have on me.

I stayed on the floor for hours, grieving for myself and the child who died and would never get a childhood because of the school. I vowed then that I would do anything it took to bring the school down in flames, even if it cost my life.

**Thank you KaelynnD!**

**now the explantion of me being away is a long one, and is not reaaly fanficiton related so i just wont talk about it! but the part that matters is i am here now! 8D**

**Updates will be slower though i have like tons of Hw the fact that i am doing this instead of my actual hw still make nos sense my mind. but be expecting updates! even if they are far apart! **


	7. The Crawler Inn

**Ace POV**

It had been a month since our last clue. Everyone was frustrated with each other, getting on each others' nerves even more so than usual. With no money and with the hospitality of Dublin's government already run out, we had resorted to living on the streets.

It could be worse, everyone knew it, but still that thought did not defeat the feelings of stress-induced resentment and anger. Why had I even walked into that diner? Though it had only been about a month and a few weeks ago, it felt like it had been a century since. I brushed a piece of red hair from my face and traced my scar on my shoulder absent-mindedly.

I looked up as Aello walked into our new makeshift camp. We had set up a small base that held two tents that Al had stolen from a local out-door stand. He bore a scruffy and scratchy-looking beard with slight patches. Both Al and Lark seemed to have quieted down, but not enough for anyone to actually get any relief of their headaches.

Everyone was tired of getting nowhere, everyone torn and broken from the long cruel days of winter. Phaearae's eyes were slightly clouded over as she zoned out, masked with dark shadowy bags under her eyes indicating sleepless nights.

I felt a nudge behind me and cast a quick glance over my shoulder to see Tobi, who still unfairly looked the best of all of us even though her purple streaks were beginning to fade. From the whole group, I found that I was closest to Tobi. She was the most relatable, and some nights were spent together talking about our very few normal experiences before and outside of the squad.

"Hey there," she said, plopping herself down beside me.

"Hi." I looked back down to the ground.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I muttered, the lie slipping through my teeth naturally.

"Hmm... should I ask again?"

"Okay, well, it's just…" I let out a deep sigh and raised my gaze to meet hers, "Nothing's happening. We aren't getting anywhere, we've made no progress. This is frustrating and I don't like it at all."

"Everyone feels like that right now," she paused, looking back at the Squad. Though they were far away, we could hear the laughter of Lark and Eric. "We'll make it through, I know we can. It sounds corny, but we all have each other, and it's only been a month… but you guys are the closest, well, friends I've ever had."

I examined her expression, calculating eyes pointed to the ground. "I mean, I'm sure my family doesn't even remember me now. My sister would be thirteen and my brother twenty. That can't be right…" her voice trailed off into a ghostly whisper.

She ran her fingers over the bottom part of her eye, lost for a second in thought. I looked back at the group and was suddenly hit with an idea.

"Hey, it's going to be fine," I said "I got an idea though, how about you and I go out tonight, sort of a girl's night out."

Her eyes flickered back up, filled with a new light.

"Yeah, I'm sick of being all mopey… that sounds like fun," she coughed, a tentative smile gracing her face.

"Then let's do it! Here, I'll just let Phaearae know where we're going."

….

It wasn't until hours later that Tobi and I were finally ready to go out to downtown Dublin.

"Did you know that I am half Irish?" Tobi announced suddenly.

"Really, you don't look it for some reason," I observed with a small grin.

"Like I said, I'm only half. 'Got lots of Filipino in me too, it evens the Irish out," Tobi replied as we came in sight of the Crawler Inn, an Irish Pub with the outside decorated with green shamrocks on wooden-planked walls.

"Ace! Um, how exactly do you expect we'll get in? We are hardly of age," she mumbled, regretting my idea in record-time.

"Only by four years," I spoke cheerily, "and actually I just turned fifteen so only three years. Don't you dare doubt the awesomeness of this plan."

"When is your birthday?" Tobi asked.

"Whenever I see fit," I let out a small chuckle, tossing my bright red hair over my shoulder, "In any case we look about twenty, that's the great thing about having special powers, they always make you grow faster. Anyway, the key is confidence."

"They will still want some ID," Tobi said thoughtful, but a gleam of nervous excitement started to show.

I turned away and bit my lip, looking forward at the man standing in front of the pub.

"Follow the master," a wicked grin graced my face.

The man was not any older than thirty, but even then he was still a bit scrawny and lanky. He had mouse-brown hair that was shaved close to his head with a few whiskers of facial hair, a few faint razor cuts on his chin. He was probably only a few inches taller than me.

"Hey there," I walked and stood only a few feet from him, smiling flirtatiously.

"IDs," he grunted, his voice not matching his looks at all.

I stood back and watched him for a second, speculating my next move. "Actually, we forgot them, but I think that you will find this as good as any ID," I began to lean over, and as his eyes looked away from mine, I made my move.

I jammed my pointer finger precisely into a very small pressure point on his neck and shoved him back. His eyes glazed over for a second as he stumbled back and leaned against the wall. He spluttered and seemed confused, staring at me in bewilderment.

"Are you alright?" I said in a concerned tone. He shook his head "Do you need to see our IDs again?"

"What?" he coughed, "No, sorry, I think I might have caught something, yeah, I feel all weird, that's it. Go ahead, girls."

Once inside, Tobi turned to me with wide eyes.

"How did you do that!" she exclaimed, her eyes appropriately filled with admiration and excitement.

"You just need to know where to hit. Humans don't know all the pressure points they actually have..." I trailed off as I spotted two boys that couldn't be any older than us.

"Look over there," I pointed out the two boys. Tobi raised her eyebrows grinning devilishly at me,

"Shall we?"

"Oh yes."

….

In the end, we found out that the boys' names were Patrick and James. Tobi seemed to have taken a great deal of interest with Patrick, where as James was simply alright. Turns out they had been able to enter the pub because the owner had been Patrick's father and James' uncle.

"I love your hair," Patrick said with a silly loose grin, twirling Tobi's hair around his fingers. "And your highlights are so cool."

Tobi was so different without the stress of trying to find food, or the lack of sleep present. It was weird to watch. She laughed louder and giggled harder, smitten with the young blonde Irish boy.

"Tobi, we better start heading back, they'll be worrying soon." I mumbled, standing up from the stool.

"Will they really?" Tobi looked at me, clad with puppy-dog eyes.

"Yes, it's nearly ten past eleven. We said we would only stay to eleven."

She looked back at Patrick, who now wore a grimace.

"Will I be able to see you again?" he asked her. Tobi looked at me then back at him.

"Probably not." She admitted truthfully. Without a hesitation, Patrick lunged forward in his chair, catching Tobi in a heated, as the Irish would say, 'snog'. My eyes widened as Tobi's arms were thrown around the Irish boy's necks. I quickly spun around and faced James.

"It was nice meeting you, James," I said awkwardly, trying to make small talk until the other two resurfaced. His eyes flickered down to my lips and he began to lean forward too. I instinctively placed my hand on his chest and maybe shoved him a bit too forcefully, "Slow down there, Sparky, not in this lifetime."

When I looked back, I found Tobi and Patrick still lip-locked.

"Tobi…." I grumbled. I looked back at James with a pleasant smile before turning around again and staring down the couple until they broke away. Finally, she pulled away with the biggest smile across her face.

"Bye, Patrick," she beamed, and with that I had her by the arm and was dragging her right out the pub's door.

"Bleedin' hell, bye…" we both could hear Patrick's breathless whisper after her.

"Thank you, Ace," Tobi laughed, and turned to me with kind eyes, "Really, this was such an awesome night."

"No problem, Tobi, anything for a friend."

**Eric's POV**

Everyone hovered around the small fire that Phaearae had started. Her eyes had become dark and shaded lately, something I hated to see for her. Over the past month, Phaearae and I had become closer friends. I had regularly gone to her to see if she needed help. She didn't admit it all the time, but I knew when she secretly wanted a helping hand.

She suddenly stood up and retreated into the dark forest without a word. Lark began to stand up, but I jumped to my feet and gave her a look that said 'Don't worry, I got this'.

I walked into the dark brush after her, and eventually caught up in time to find Phaerae sitting beside a frozen pond, arms wrapped around her knees hugged close to her chest. Her blonde hair fell over her face like a curtain.

"Phaearae?" I spoke hesitantly, quietly walking to her side.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice breaking as she looked the opposite way.

"I'm here to help," I sat down wrapping a protective arm around her, to which she struggled with for a second before sinking into my embrace. I shivered as I felt her breath blow shakily on my neck. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this; I am just running everyone here into their graves." She paused taking a large breath, "We have no food, no water, and no way of getting back to North America…what was I thinking, getting everyone on that plane?"

I pushed away a few strands of her wavy hair, tucking it behind one ear. She flinched, but leaned into me once again. I was feeling a bit light-headed myself.

"Hey, do you want to know something?" I asked quietly, noting how the brisk moonlight made her skin look even paler and more flawless. "You are one of the brightest, bravest, and most amazing human beings that I know. No matter what those whitecoats did to us, we're all still human too.

When I was growing up, I had a good family. Three brothers, all older. I had a loving mother, a devoted father. I was kidnapped at the age of nine and placed in a lab to be tested on." I took a deep breath, not wanting to relive the horrors and loss.

"I was fourteen when I escaped from it all, and got to return to my family in London. I was expecting a glorious family reunion, but when I got to home, I found their dead bodies on the floor. The same floors I had dreamt of standing on again instead of the cramped cages. Memories kept me going; I waited so long to go back to that house."

Phaearae sat up, her red eyes clearing of tears as she gave her full attention to my story.

"I ran, got the safety money from my father's sock drawer, and then called from a telephone box 911… Phaearae, I ran, I don't even know why. I didn't think of anything else, I just broke down and lost it. I left to North America, where after two years I found the post." I bit my lower lip. "As soon as I got there, I already regretted it and planned to leave after five minutes, unwilling to trust in anything that this could possibly make me not feel alone anymore. Then… something amazing happened. You walked in." I tried to gauge her expression, but I couldn't. "You were no ordinary girl, I could tell that right away. The way you held yourself… and the way you spoke. Phaearae, you were born to lead us, I know it and so do you. No one else is more fit for the job. For the first time in four years, I felt that I could become close to someone again… that there was someone I could trust in the world again. That's you, and now, the rest of the squad. All because of _you_."

Phaearae's eyes looked soft, which is an expression I had never seen upon on her face. It made me grin nervously as I looked into her green eyes, and it was something in her eyes that made my stomach feel like it was doing a back flip. I realized something I had been denying all these days.

"Eric, I haven't been completely honest with the Squad… my history is…" she trailed off.

"Screwed up like the rest of ours, I know. Do you think any of us would be here if it wasn't like that?"

Phaearae let out a loud sigh, "Maybe you should be the one leading us, Eric, I'm such a mess lately. You seem like you've got it all together."

"No, did you hear anything I just said? Phaearae, you were always meant to lead us. Whoever that R.H is, they knew what they were doing when they made you leader." I squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and looked into the depths of her eyes, my stomach painfully knotting up again. I felt my heart flutter faster than usual but didn't look away.

"You have more faith in me then I do," she whispered, her eyes burning with a new passion.

I dug my fist into the pocket of my hoodie, my unkempt hair falling into my eyes.

"Well, someone has to,"

"Thank you, Eric, you're a true friend." she said, standing up suddenly and walking away. My arm fell limply to my side and my heart dropped. I looked back but she was already gone. I placed my face in my hands and rubbed my temples in thought.

"Yes… a friend," I whispered to myself, almost in a chastising tone.

A few minutes later, I walked back along the path back to camp, feeling stupid for reasons I didn't really want to explore. When I arrived, I sat back down on a stump by Aello. The moment I touched the seat though, there was a rustling noise and everyone was suddenly on their feet and looking up.

Toby and Ace suddenly dropped down in our clearing cheerily, back from their outing, and wasted no time in exchanging greetings with everyone. Tobi had a new bounce in her step though, a certain gleam in her eyes.

"What's got you so happy-go-lucky?" Al teased Tobi, poking her in the ribs as she squirmed.

"She made out with an Irish boy." Ace replied nonchalantly, which, in return, earned a very loud and hard smack from Tobi.

"Ace!" she shouted, cheeks turning red. Ace wore a devilish grin and sat down beside Lark triumphantly.

"Tobi, you dawg!" Al thumped her on the back with a laugh. Lark looked up at Tobi with pained eyes.

"Why didn't you guys take me? I could do with a bit of fun!" Lark grumbled.

"You want to make out with guys?" Al jumped quickly, his head snapping to Lark.

"Not just that, just to get out of this rut I've been in… I'm going to bed." she said with a quick nod at everyone before turning to the girl's tent.

"I think that's a good idea for everyone. Sleep." Phaearae said, getting up. Everyone followed her example and was quickly off to their tents.

I was about to step into the boys' tent when I suddenly felt a slight tap on my shoulder. I turned to find Phaearae,

"I really meant what I said earlier… thank you so much, Eric, you are a great friend." She then sprung forward, embracing me in a tight hug. My breath stopped and my eyes widened as I slowly wrapped my arms around her too. "Goodnight, Eric," she whispered before pulling away and retreating to her tent.

"Goodnight!" I called after her, my voice cracking embarrassingly. I coughed to cover it up.

"Dude…" I heard Al's unmistakable voice speak with humour. I looked back at him to find him slowly shaking his head.

"Oh, shut it." I quipped, ducking into the tent.

"Bloody hell," I whispered to myself. What had I gotten myself into?

**Hope you guys like this one thank you Fazzems and sorry about the time difference between each chapter school but please review **


	8. Noire

**Phaearae's POV**

I knew what we had to do; I had known for quite some time. Al and Lark had come back, but any relief I'd felt when I first saw them evaporated when I'd began to voice my plan to them and they interjected with a list as to why it was a terrible idea. The building we'd found was our only lead, but they were dead set against it.

I slipped out of the tanned tent looking around the small clearing and at my flock. From the outside, we must've looked like a small group of homeless kids, but on the inside it was so much more.

Lark was currently staring down her breakfast of dead rabbit that Al had killed earlier. He was a great hunter, he'd once told us that he had wolf in him, but no one had believed him before now. While Tobi refused to eat anything as cute as a small innocent bunny, Aello on the other hand most likely would've been fine eating it raw. Interesting lot I have.

Eric sat to the side of Aello, his hair falling over his face. Small patches of scuff were forming on his chin. He had been my rock and an even better friend for the past few weeks, reliable and there. Near him stood Al and Ace, both laughing at a joke that I was too far away to hear. Ace had been my right hand girl; coming up with ideas of getting the group to become close, and friendlier. Although the only people butting heads were really Lark and Al, I realized with a smirk.

I approached the group and unconsciously held my breath; one wrong word and I would get into the practise speech of Lark and Al.

"I think we need to have a squad meeting," I said hesitantly, everyone's gazes switching to me.

"Cool, maybe we can talk about the lack of new faces." Al remarked loudly. I sent him a warning glare and his lips closed.

"Anyway, like I was saying, I think we need to talk about something."

"Shoot," Eric said.

"I think we need to go over to the building," I tried to speak with as much authority in my voice as possible, "I know I said we didn't have to… but as more time goes by, it's the only solution I can think of. It's at least worth checking out."

"Are you kidding me?" Lark spat, pushing her meal away and rising to her feet, "Haven't Al and I made it clear? It's too dangerous, you know that, Phaearae."

"I don't know, Lark, maybe she's right. I mean we are practically rotting away in this hellhole, I think it's time we do _something_." Al spoke quickly, his eyes searching Lark's knowingly. I raised my eyebrows sceptically, not expecting that kind of response from him.

Lark crossed her arms and glared at the ground for a few short seconds.

"Well no then, I refuse. There's not a snowball's chance I am going anywhere near that place if there's even the slightest possibility that this building you want to go into is anything like the school," she quipped venomously.

"You have to put the past in the past, Lark" Al said. Everyone fell silent and exchanged surprised as he tried to reason with her humanely maybe for the first time ever. "I promise the school won't get close to hurting you, you're way too fast anyway," the side of his mouth quirked up.  
Eric looked over to me with a confused look, jerking his head in their direction and staring at me with bewildered eyes. I shrugged my shoulders hopelessly and turned to see Lark staring at Al with an unreadable expression.

"Whatever, yeah, I'll think about it. That's all I can promise right now."

"Well I didn't expect that," I muttered under my breath, then louder, "What about the rest of you, what do you think?"

"It's going to be dangerous..." Aello started, then grinned devilishly, "so yeah, let's do it."

"We just need to think of a solid plan," Ace chimed in. I had talked to her before, asking her if she thought that this would be the right move, so luckily she stood by my side one hundred percent. I smiled at her appreciatively.  
"Well assuming it is the school we're dealing with, there won't be an easy way in..." Lark countered irritably.

"Uh, well I have an idea," Eric began, picking up a stick and sketching something in the dirt, "we could use Al to scout the place first…"

"If this is the building, I think Al would be able to patrol about twenty yards away without being spotted, but still be able to hear us. Oh, and we'd need the upper hand of nightfall if this is all gonna go down."

"What do you mean?" Tobi asked.

"Don't you remember 'Rattle Snake' over there?" Eric said jokingly, gesturing at Aello, "Heat vision when his cool guy glasses are off."

"Now where was I? Oh yeah, Aello would be in the lead looking out for guards with Phaerae."

"I can't see in the dark?" I questioned looking up at Eric. He stared back with a childish grin.

"Oh, 'course not, but you'll be the one signalling us all in case anything goes wrong," he said, touching my noise with his pointer finger as if I were five. Without any warning, my cheeks flushed, but thankfully everyone had pointed their attention back to Eric as he drew something else in the sand.

"Now Lark… assuming you are going to be coming at all, you'll be flying above Al, keeping some distance, 'til he gives you the signal that we've got into the school."

"But you still haven't told us how we are going to do that!" Aello complained, voicing my same confusion aloud.  
"Well… I can easily get any door open."

"You'd make a commotion with the sound of an explosion!" Tobi pointed out.

"I know what I can do," Eric said smiling "but I don't exactly think you do…"

"Just what are you talking about Eric?" Tobi demanded in confusion.

"Tobi, your powers extend farther than just being able to absorb other peoples' powers," he smiled cunningly, "Remember when you were telling me about that one time you escaped with the mind reader?"

"Yeah... _Kyle_ helped me run away from the military camp…" she trailed off. I cocked my head to the side, wondering where he was going with this.  
"You said that right before you parted ways with him, he told you to be careful with your powers, that as you absorbed more powerful powers, the more people would fear you," he paused, "You could put words into the mind reader's mind?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't you see? You can absorb peoples' powers, yeah, but you can also use them against them!"

"I don't… understand."

"You can twist and bend peoples' powers, shaping them the way you want to… when Spidey Wolfe was attacking us a few months ago and you were trapped in the webs, you pulled Phaearae's, power which is expulsion of fire. But you heated your body until the webs burned off, twisting the power just slightly so it was suited to your need at the time."

"Now, if you could pull Al's power, but instead of using it on yourself, I bet you could push it out to others around you so they had it too!"

"You want to me to give the guards fantabulously awesome hearing like us…?" she shook her head, "I am failing to see the logic in this."

"I'm not done - once you give them really good hearing, slightly alter the power to what we need. Just tune down the power so that they're practically deaf."

"Smart," I remarked, nodding in approval.

"You don't even know if she can do that," Al pointed out, 'It's just a guess"

"What did you say, Al?" Ace cocked her head to the side.

"I said you don't even know it she can do it."

"What?" Ace spoke louder this time.

"I SAID YOU DON'T KNOW IF SHE CAN…"Al stopped and looked over at Tobi with an impressed look on his face, "oh…"

"Brilliant," Eric sighed.

"What do I do then?" Ace asked, her hearing back to normal

"Find a bow and arrow."

"Sweet."

Several hours later, Al and Ace had returned with am impressive bow, grinning ear-to-ear.

"Why bow and arrow, Eric?" Lark asked "Why not a gun?"

"Less noisy," he said simply as he pushed some materials into a small backpack, "Can't expect Tobi to be able to blockallof the guards' hearing the _whole_time but we still need to be able to attack long-range."

"I still can't believe you thought of all this, Eric," I smiled. Al lent down to Ace, whispering something into her ear which made him snicker. I shot an annoyed glare at them.  
As the sun slowly moved down the sky, I stood.

"Time to move out," I announced decisively, turning my gaze to Lark "So are you coming?"

"Well I can't just let you guys kill yourselves, now can I?" she grinned which made me sigh in relief, "I'm in. You guys are crazy, but I'm in."

**Tobi's POV**

Eric, Ace, and I walked down the street, Ace sporting Al's large hoodie that hid her bow underneath it. Phaearae and Aello were on the next street while Al and Lark were trailing behind us about a block away. To everyone's amusement, they were reluctantly holding hands.

"It just makes more sense!" Phaearae had pointed out to the two.

"How?" Lark had shouted back in horror.

"Well mostly only couples are out at this time, you should look the part."

"We could just be friends!"

"Heard that one before," Al had chuckled darkly.

"Aaaand friend-zoned!" Ace had laughed.

"Oh bother,"

"Come one, Lark, don't mess this up… are you in or not?" Eric had said stubbornly.

"Fine, but I swear, Eric, you tea-sipping bastard, I'll get you back!" Lark had scrunched up her nose in anger.

"Looking forward to it."

"Did they actually have to hold hands?" I'd asked.

"Honestly? Not really," Eric had snickered.  
Looking behind me now, I saw Lark with the bitterest expression on her face, Al's mouth moving quickly with an amused expression on his face.

"Lark sure looks happy, eh?" I smiled and looked at Eric.

"As a penguin in a microwave."

"So, when are we going to see the signal?" I asked.

"When Aello and Phaearae have gotten rid of the guards, we'll see it."  
It was only ten minutes later that we saw the small flare.

"Come on," Eric said and we all broke into a quite jog, I could hear Al and Lark now moving behind us. When we rounded the corner to see Phaearae and Aello, we heard something drop and spotted Al a millisecond later pulling a young man's body into a bush. Phaearae had a horrified look in her eyes.

"You okay?" I asked silently.

"Not used to Aello's way of killing quite yet..." she mumbled, the blood drained from her checks.

"So Tobi, let me know when the guards will be unable to detect us," Eric said, referring to my ability.

I nodded, shutting my eyes and reaching out with an invisible hand to take Al's ability, feeling raw power all throughout my system. I let out a deep sigh, twisting the power like a computer code; everybody's power had one, a simple code to it, and all I had to do was switch some numbers and letters here and there, add some pizzazz, the whole lot. Now to think of it, I'd probably be awesome with computers. I shook my head, refocusing my power. It'd been easier to propel my power to Ace earlier, I'd known her and her code, but the guards took a lot more concentration.  
I listened quietly. There were two guards… four… six…nine... ten? That was right, ten guards in total.

With one burst of energy, I shot my altered code out into their minds, lowering their hearing with ease.

I opened my eyes in success, smiling cockily.

"Bah-da-bing, bah-da-boom!" I said. The whole surge had hardly taken ten seconds, not even a

dent in our plan.

"You are amazing, Tobi!" Eric grinned, grabbing me into a tight embrace and letting go as he turned to the side door of the building.

"Ace, get ready," Phaearae ordered seriously Ace quickly pulled out her bow, loading in with an arrow.

"Al, once I open the door, both you and Lark should charge in." Eric said.

"I'll cover you," Phaearae nodded.  
Eric rubbed his hands, blowing into them. Before now, none of us had ever seen his power at work; he'd told us that it was too dangerous and unpredictable.

He extended his hand so it was less than a centimetre away from the lock. There was a small, high-pitched whine before the lock suddenly exploded with a _boom_, leaving a gaping hole in the door. He swiftly kicked the door right down.

"Duck!" Ace shouted quickly and all four of us flew to the ground as two arrows whizzed over our heads, followed by the sound of two bodies hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes.

I jumped to my feet, stepping over the men and stopped for a second, examining the long, dark hallway we'd broken into. The walls were painted black, but even if they weren't, I still wouldn't have been able to see anything as the only source of light was a small, flickering one at the end.

"Al, get over here," Phaearae said, "Bring Lark too."  
We all looked around in an eerie silence.

Phaearae was the one to break it, taking one step forward, the sound of her shoes echoing creepily. The rest of the Squad followed her lead, falling into single file. As we advanced further, the ground became wet, and I felt something cold seeping into my socks.  
"What the hell?" I whispered, looking at the ground in confusion. With an exasperated sigh I realized that I couldn't see anything in this darkness, my powers drained from the guards so I couldn't borrow Aello's or Al's.

"I can't see anything," Lark hissed.

"Just hang on to me, Babe, I'll lead you to paradise," Al chuckled. I heard a thump sound.

"Ow, stop hitting me!"

"Stop making me."

I could hear Aello humming "I Can Show you the World" from Aladdin a little bit behind me until Phaearae suddenly snapped at us all to shut up.

"Wait, what's that smell?" she murmured. I could see the silhouette of her figure as she wiped her tip of her finger across the wall, then as she brought it to her nose.

"Oh god," she groaned.

"That is some interior decorating they have done here," Al commented darkly.

"What is it?" Eric asked blindly.

"Blood," Phaearae spat the word in disgust.

"Then what's this stuff on the ground…" I grimaced, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Let's just keep moving," Phaearae sucked in a deep breath.

Suddenly, an extremely loud bang rang out from behind us. We whirled around to see a bunch of ceiling lights slowly flickering on in rows. We turned back forward and exchanged worried looks.

"I think we are okay…" Al said, "I can't hear anyone running over here."

"Think again," a dark husky voice growled, and we all turned again to see the Eraser that we'd seen twice before. He was just as disgusting as before, his eyes wide and bloodshot as he stared down at us. Where had he come from? There were no doors or connecting hallways from where we had come from. Had he followed us from outside? Wouldn't Al have heard him? A thousand questions raced through my mind.

With one snap of his jaws, he launched himself forward and brought his paw down on Lark, scraping and dragging his claws down her face in a vicious smack. She slumped to the ground, her eyes rolling back in her head as she cried out in pain.

"Bastard!" Al yelled in absolute fury, charging forward and throwing his fists at the Eraser. The second before his fist would've collided with the Eraser's gut though, it was already gone.

"Tssk, tssk, Al, somebody needs to learn how to control their rage. I think you missed." This time the voice came from in front of Phaearae. I spun around to see the Eraser standing in front of her, her hands starting to glow with heat as she focused her energy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" he remarked monotonously as if he were bored, "you should check out the ground" he smiled, as we all slowly glanced down. I felt my stomach drop, it looked like oil… but why hadn't we smelt it? The Eraser smirked, "There's been a slight gas leak in this hallway, I suspect too."

"Get off me!" I suddenly heard Al shout from behind me. I turn to see a group of large men towing him away.

"Al!" I cried, and then I realized something else, "Where is Ace!"

"Now we clearly couldn't have had her complicating your kidnap!"

"What the hell did you do to her, you disgusting, drooling bastard!" Phaearae growled, staring the towering Eraser right in the snout.  
I heard another hard thump as Eric let out a struggled cry.

"We'll get to that all in good time. It's time for all of you to meet the Mistress..." he smiled evilly.  
Before I had time to defend myself or even to scream, I felt a hard and extremely painful hit on the back of my head, "Nighty night."

And then everything went black.

* * *

**Hey everyone, sorry about that wait... I already have the next chapter in progress, so I am think that I will get this up the latest at the beginning of February ( just because I have mid- terms next few weeks D:) **

**also I think I will begin to respond to some of your reviews! beginning now :p something fun and I feel like I should give the appreciation to the people who review to this story... I hope you like this chapter. so if you review is long enough or has a question to it I will sure to respond yo it **

ShortlittlePixie_-~__thank you so much! I like Ace/ Tobi as well, showing that there is more in the group then just teasing and some friend zone problems :p I really wish I could write everyone's background story because they are so interesting! but unfortunately that would take to much space into the story : / but I will keep trying to put those little snap shots of the backgrounds of these characters!_**  
**

Sgt. Sporky ~_I'm sorry I kind of did it again didn't I? left you guys for awhile it's so hard to balance this and school! but I really promise this time! And sure Al could do it! xD just freaking run like hell...maybe break in at night? Yes their relationship may be a bit cliché but I just love writing about them it's probably one of the most fun characters to write about! and you just wait the relationship has some interesting turns for the future;) _

Lilac Rose6 _yes Eric is soo friend- zoned in the last chapter...ever guys worst enemy/ fear! lets ope that he can get out of it!_

_**BIG SHOUT OUT TO FAZZEMS one of the best ones out there! this story wouldn't con't without you! **_

_**R**_

**_e_**

**_v_**

**_i_**

**_e_**

**_w_**

**_please :3_**


	9. Locked

**Lark POV**

I woke up slowly, immediately becoming aware that my hands and feet were bound to the hard surface that I was laying on, my chin and forehead held back by thick leather straps. My eyes darted rapidly side to side, trying to see more of the room, feeling moisture around my mouth and irritably noticing the cloth gagging me. It tasted of blood and salt. Blinding lights lit the purely white room. To my right, I could hear a low groan, and focussing my eyes I saw Aello without his sunglasses on, his eyes closed and eyebrows knit together furiously as he struggled against his bindings.

One by one, I could hear each member of the squad begin to stir beside me, although I could only see Aello and Al and part of Tobi from my peripheral vision.

In front of us stood a small platform that was only a few steps high, resting at the top a rather large throne-like-but-not chair. I started to hear the clatter of shoes approaching and I looked up to meet eyes with a woman who promptly looked away, hair falling over her eyes as she took the steps and sat upon the chair gracefully. She looked at us all from underneath her lashes as an Eraser moved to take position at her side, his back hunched with suspicious, cautious eyes.

Her skin was as white as paper as I examined her further, and stretched out so tightly that all her features seemed to be pulled back with it. I wondered faintly if she had a bunch of excess skin pinned back behind her hair with a clip; I wouldn't be surprised if that were so. Her nails were probably about an inch long and her pitch black hair cascaded down along the nape of her neck. Her lips were a solid, blood red and she wore a dark black dress with red stitching and when she smiled, her teeth were almost too straight and too sharp. I saw her as the spitting image of a smiling, beckoning beast.

"Hello, Squad," she addressed us, her voice slow like molasses. "Welcome, to my humble abode – and I suppose to yours as well. Welcome to your new home."

I let out a loud groan, my muscles straining again their confines.

"You all take orders so well," she smiled sardonically, looking down the line at us, "Ah yes, I suppose you are probably wondering who I am? My name is Romania Heart… one of the R.H's."

"Do you remember Phaearae?" she was standing again, pacing her little platform before making intense eye contact with each of us.

"You all are so special," she murmured, standing in front of me.

"Cut to the chase," I snarled, but quickly pressed my lips together as she lightly grazed her claw like nails along my cheek and I felt a trickle of blood run down my face.

"So, so special to me," she drawled on, moving past and ignoring my comment.

As she walked to Al and I heard a deep, animalistic growl within his throat.

"This one is so feisty…you keep a good eye on him, Larky," I cringed as she spoke my name; there was something so awful and wrong to it.

"As you all have probably already figured out, I was the one who brought you here," she sighed as if bored, lifting her bony arms up, "I'm so glad you didn't protest. That you all did not question my authority, or else this process would have had to been much more…difficult, to say the least."

She lifted a long finger and suddenly the Eraser appeared at her side again.

"Yes, my Mistress?"

"Please take our guests to their living area," she said, "We wouldn't want to delay showing them where they are going to be living any longer."

"Of course, Mistress."

I didn't feel strong anymore; I did not feel the familiar surge of adrenalin through my bloodstream because, truth be told, I was tired. We were in the process of watching some chick dig our grave while being dressed up all fancy for our coffins, and there was nothing we could do about it.

I felt a tear well up my eyes and let my hair fall over my face in torment, slumping in my bindings. I was swiftly moved to a small, caged prison, and it encompassed me just like it had far too many times in the past. I could hear the squad beside me fight our captures, but eventually the noise dulled as reality sunk in and we had all settled. My breath wanted to draw fast, but I fought it, and simply closed my eyes and relished in the momentary silence.

"Lark," I immediately heard a whine to my right. The whole squad was in this one section, and upon further inspection I noticed Al to my right and Tobi to my left. A cage sat upon mine but I could not distinguish exactly who it was.

"Lark, please," Al spoke again tensely. He had been trying to get my attention for some time now, "I'm sorry, Lark." His voice no longer held the laughter and light humour that it usually did, but was filled with dread.

"For what?" I grumbled, trying to pull myself into a sitting position

"I got you into this," he trailed off. His fingers were hooked around the bars that held him captive, then, "I promised you - I was there when he just…hit you like that."

I stared at him, my eyes narrowing. Something about him had changed. It was so different, just in the way he looked at me. Like I was no longer the enemy he so much treated me like, almost like a friend. No, that wasn't right, more like a younger sister, perhaps having to be a protective yet annoying older brother. Was that even right?

"It isn't your fault, Al, none of us exactly saw this coming," I said after some time, in the back of my mind recalling myself actually predicting this as a bad plan. I decided internally this wouldn't be the proper moment to mention this. When I tried to peer at Al through the bars, I saw him looking back as he shook his head.

"This shouldn't have happened," his expression was a mixture of rage and despair as he pushed off his bars and leaned against the back of the cage, out of sight.

"Aello still hasn't stirred," he mentioned after a few minutes, peering out of the bars again, "He just sits and blankly stares forward, he doesn't twitch. I don't even know if the guy's breathing, honestly. Why is everyone so quiet?"

He let out a deep sigh.

"How is Tobi?"

"She is as good as any of us… she hasn't talked much but no one has really," I murmured.

When he didn't reply, I opened my eyes and began inspecting the room, noting the many cages that lined the walls, some empty, others filled with other kids that seemed to be either sleeping or staring off blankly. Some looked as young as five, while others as old as nineteen. I slowly began staring down the metal door, faintly imagining kicking it down and getting us all out of here. I wondered how long these other children has been here, how many had died at this strange place.

"Hey, uh… Al? I wa-"

I heard a loud bang to my cage and cried out.

"Shut up, you maggots!" an Eraser barked furiously, lowering his ugly snout down to my level and glaring me in the eye. A quick glance down to his chest, I saw he was actually wearing a nametag.

"Nice nametag, you must be new, Bryan," I spat sardonically.

His eyes grew deranged and he kicked my cage with all his might, sending me against the other side of the cage wall. I pressed my lips together and refused to make any sound.

"That's what I thought," I heard his voice sound smugly above me as he backed up.

I stared at this Bryan-character, the ugly beast. Half of his snout was missing, as well as a runaway ear, his eyes bloodshot and wild with a fountain of never-ending rage. He had patches of missing fur where large blisters oozed different and definitely unnatural colours. He was even more disgusting when he bore his fangs in a smile.

"Hey!" Al shouted, "Get your lousy ass away from her!"

"Al..." I muttered under my breath so that Bryan could not hear, my teeth clenched, "Shut. Up."

"Oh looky here," Bryan smiled again, and I cringed as he walked towards Al`s cage, "Smart ass you are, covering for your girlfriend, hmm?" He seemed giddy with laughter.

"Yeah, don't think that's gonna work for some reason," his voice was raw with amusement as he suddenly jolted my cage again roughly from side to side, causing me to accidentally cry out in shock.

"Stop it!" I heard Al snarl in a sudden craze, his expression darkening, "Stop it now, or I swear…"

"Al, shut up, I'm okay!" I tried to yell, but it came out weaker than I expected. I was a strong person, but when the school was involved, I felt as though I'd been transported back to an earlier time when I had been younger, to the place where I'd had my childhood stripped from me by these people.

Al growled as his cage was opened and launched himself at Bryan before a few other Erasers barrelled over and peeled him off of the blubbering Eraser. Bryan pulled out a long rod that had sparks at the end of it, jabbing the tazor into Al's side with an evil grin. I watched Al's body convulse violently for a few seconds before he slumped to the floor, falling limply.

"Al!" I yelled this time, and I heard Tobi shout somewhere near me, "Don't you hurt him, you bastards!" I watched in horror as they dragged him to the other side of the room and paused by the door.

"It's time we taught these newcomers some manners, wouldn't you say?" Bryan said to one Eraser who nodded gleefully.

Al's eyes snapped back open and he looked around wildly with his one good eye until he settled on my frightened expression. My heart dropped in my chest.

"Aw, back with us already?" Bryan jeered, "I think I can fix that."

And with that, he jabbed the metal rod back into Al's side. Al grunted with agony, his muscles seizing up, but his one eye remained focussed on Bryan with unadultered fury as he shook dangerously. Bryan yanked the rod away and Al attempted to rise to his feet but slumped on his side, twitching wordlessly in pain.

"You're quite lucky I'm so merciful. I think there's an explanation in order as well though, that's what you're all expecting, right? As you have all probably guessed by now, we have a very organized little system here at Mortem. You see that blue pipeline that lines the room? It kinda sorta definitely sends out this radioactive pulse that, well, leaves all of you unable to use your special abilities that our Mistress thinks makes you all so… special. At least for a while."

He lowered himself so that he was snout-to-nose with Al, "Oh, and you'll love this part. It's all concentrated in electric shocks in this little device right here." He jammed it back into Al's side, to which he immediately fell unconscious in response.

"Party pooper," Bryan shrugged as he rose again.

"Al!" I gasped loudly without thinking.

"You just won't shut up, will you, bitch?"

I looked up at Bryan with pure hatred. If I ever got the chance, I would rip off his other ear and a few other things while I was at it. And I would enjoy it too.

Bryan proceeded to throw another hard hit to the unconscious Al's right ear, to which the whole squad began shouting out in complaint and fury. The voices of the squad rang out of the different cages, but none of us could help. I felt like the helpless prisoner I was, and wanted to cry. My heart raced as I watched Al quiver on the floor, his eyes bleakly opening as they began to puff up.

This was a man who had always been annoying to me, a pestering fly that mainly just made my skin crawl. However, looking down at him now made me realize that even though our relationship was mostly just bickering and fighting, he was still the person I was closest to in the Squad, hell, maybe even in the world. I bit my lip until I drew blood, an old habit from the school now coming back to me.

I watched as another Eraser reeled his foot back, kicking Al in the side and making him roll over onto his back. Not a second later, Bryan stomped his heel into Al's nose and the room was filled with an echoing cracking noise. Blood poured freely down Al's face, pooling beside him on the floor, and no one in the room made a sound. I bit my lip, wanting to call the Erasers every name in the book, but every time I spoke they hurt Al more and more. I almost called out though as Bryan spat into Al's face before spinning on his heel and returning to his chair, but thought better of it, deciding to store away the rage for later.

I did not feel like crying. I felt like tearing this cage apart with my bare hands and pulling each and every hair off of Bryan's body until he was raw with pain before finally sending him through maybe six or seven walls with full force. That wouldn't even be good enough.

I could hear my heart beat in my ears as I watched Al; it should have been me, it had been me who had caused all of that. I grimaced bitterly.

I had never felt like this before, such a strong need to protect a person. If I could at least clean him up, fix his surely broken nose. To clean the blood that now stained his shirt, put a cold icepack onto his bruised cheek; I suppose, to take care of him.

Hopelessly, I hugged my knees as my mind drifted back to just twenty-four hours ago, a time that felt like a century ago.

"_Christ, your hands are sweaty." I muttered to Al as we walked down the street towards the factory, "Are you nervous?" I laughed at this._

"_Oh shut it, I wouldn't get nervous over a girl like you," I felt a stab throughout my body but quickly shook it off and grinned instead._

"_I guess you would be nervous, seeing as this is your first time holding a girl's hand."_

"_Oh, I have done a hell of a lot more than hold a girl's hand!" he laughed now, looking to another couple walking down the road. I knew that comment shouldn't have bothered me, but it had. What exactly did he meant by that?_

"_So why are you so nervous then, macho man?" I asked cheekily._

"_Maybe because we are going to a place that may or may not lead to our impending doom!"_

"_No, that's not it," I rolled my eyes, "Surprisingly, I think I know you pretty well by now, Al, and so I know that you don't get nervous over dangerous, impossible tasks, clearly. That'd be way too normal-person of you."_

"_Stop here, Aello and Phaearae are finishing up the guards," he commanded, then looked down at me with a strange look. "I'm not nervous," he concluded in finality._

"_Yours cheeks are flush, your hands are clammy, and you are totally not yourself!"_

"_Oh, and you know this because you just know me oh-so-well!"_

"_Yeah, pretty sure. I mean, I only spend half a day talking to you, well, every day! Lest it be bickering or not, I still know you, Al."_

"_You have only known me for a few months, that hardly makes you qualified to write a book on the Life and Times of Al," he said grumpily._

"_Why are you being so defensive?" I asked, completely aware I was getting on his nerves now, "You can be annoying sometimes, but you have never sounded so…whiney!" He let a deep frustrated sigh._

"_You really want to know?" he yelled_

"_Yes!" I shouted back_

"_I am nervous because…" He paused, his eye going blank. He stopped abruptly and took his hand from mine, looking away, "Time to go." Without another word, he quickly turned and began walking towards the building._

What was he going to say? The question plagued my mind as I watched the guards drag Al back into his cage. I waited that night, watching Al closely. I promised myself to wait until he woke up before making sure that one of my closest friends was okay.

**Eric POV**

I sat on the uncomfortable, metal floor of my cage as I tried unsuccessfully to get even just a wink of sleep. Sleeping proved to be an impossible task though, as thoughts blasted through my mind at 100 km/h. We were trapped in a place where our abilities were useless, that zapped our powers. It explained why Al and Aello hadn't heard or seen the Erasers coming, but why had Tobi's worked? Was there some sort of loop hole, or exception to this weird place?

And most importantly, what did this Rose girl want with us? Why had she brought us here?

"Eric," a hesitant whisper came from my side, to which I lifted my chin towards to see Phaearae looking into my cage. Her green eyes almost seemed to glow in the darkness, "Are you awake?"

"Well, yeah," I responded, sitting up and crawling over onto my side to face her.

"I can't sleep," she said.

"I can see that," I mumbled, examining her cheeks. She had been rushed by the guards earlier and there were signs of it; under her left eye they had left a rather large blue bruise and her top lip was swollen where some blood had dried.

"Oh God, what did they do to you?" I breathed quietly. She hadn't spoken to any one of the squad yet, she'd hidden her face and I could now see why.

"You can see? I thought it'd be too dark," she bit her lip nervously, maybe the first time I'd seen our fearless leader show vulnerability.

"No darkness can hide that injustice," I sighed bitterly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm well enough," she nodded, "Enough of that though, Eric, that Eraser Bryan is asleep right now so I can finally talk to you now. I need you to do something for me,"

My heart began to pump faster as I strained my ears.

"Anything."

"You need to try and use your power."

"What? He already explained that it's impossible," I said urgently in a hushed tone

"Yeah, but then how did Tobi use her power? How did I use mine in the hallway?" she began, "There has to be something wrong here, and they must know it too! Why else would they keep those guards here those rods?"

"Wait, so does your power still work?" I asked curiously

"Do you think I would actually still be sitting here if it did?" she snapped, repositioning herself, "It doesn't, Eric, but I was thinking that maybe yours could."

"Well what makes me so special?"

"Your power is unpredictable, I don't know! Even you say so, it can go to heights that you probably can't even imagine! You coached Tobi into realizing her power, now I need you to coach yourself into using yours." she commanded sternly.

"Exactly, Phaearae, my power is unpredictable, so it's even harder to control it and know when it's actually going to work for me."

"I bet all's you need is something to emotionally affect you; I've seen it happen before, like a trigger. These Erasers have more problems than they let on."

"What do you know of them?" I asked. She looked at me with wide eyes, her expression one of disarray, something people rarely saw of her.

"N-n-othing, I just was raised in the School…I saw them frequently, and I've seen a lot bite the dust," she whispered, "Plus, my power began to first manifest when I was extremely emotional, and I wasn't always able to control it.."

"What happened?" I muttered, realizing how little I really knew about our fearless leader.

"It's complicated. A friend sort of…betrayed me. I got angry," she said softly this time, but her eyes snapped back to me.

"I know you can do this, Eric, I believe in you!" her voice was so sweet I wanted to fall into it. I felt it was not right that I should be the one to be so privileged to hear it. What if I failed her? What if she were wrong about me? Before I could say anything else, we heard Bryan grunt as he slowly stirred from his unexpected nap.

**Aello POV**

I stared forward, my eyes narrowing as I watched a guard begin to walk in my direction from the corner of my eye. Time had become something that was impossible to keep track of; had it been two days or two weeks? Maybe even longer…

I had spent every waking hour wracking my mind, trying to understand where my power had gone. Because it did not matter how many times they told me that I was incapable of it, I knew my powers were within grasp, I just couldn't quite see it yet.

I felt it close now, like I was just one lock and key short of finding my powers on the other side of a door. I stretched my mind trying to curve around that door, but was frustratingly unable.

A loud noise interrupted my concentration, but I hardly twitched as I noticed a guard standing over my cage.

"Hey there, freak," he growled, dropping a suspicious-looking bowl of grey oats into my cage,

"Eat up."

I dragged my gaze to look down at my food before quickly slurping it up. Taking a curious gaze to my side, I saw Al and Lark both leaning against the conjoining walls of their cages, as close to one another as they could really be. I examined them as they slowly ate their food. The two didn't bicker as much anymore, which wasn't too weird considering the situation we'd been placed under, but it was still a sight to see. As well, Al's injuries were now almost gone, though his nose looked broken.

Once I grew bored, I began staring forward again, trying to block out any interferences from my surroundings and concentrating.

"Get off her!" I heard Eric yell, followed by a loud bang, "Get your paws off!"

My eyes snapped open from a light sleep, and I leapt to the bars that kept me confined, searching the room wildly for a sign of what was going on.

"Eric!"

I now could see Phaearae being wrestled to the ground, her left eye was closed as a dark fluid trickled out of it, her arms cut severely and any space she touched left a trail of dark red. A rod stabbed into her side, and Phaearae automatically fell limp. As they always did.

I expected this to be the end out this outburst and leaned back, but I heard another bang.

"No!"

"Get back, fool," Bryan grunted, his eyes widening as he looked above my cage. The cages began to shake as another equally loud bang sounded from above. In the first time in a while, I began to move about excitedly, trying to spot any sign of weaknesses in my cage.

I heard the shout of Eric, almost twice as loud as the bang I'd just heard, and felt myself and my cage being tossed across the room and hit the concrete wall.

It only took a second for me to jump to my feet, finally free as the cage's door hung crookedly open. I saw Eric stumbling around as well, though the rest of the squad was still locked in their cages. Many children of the room were shouting in surprise and nervous excitement.

"Eric, Aello get us out of here!" Al shouted, yanking at his door furiously. I looked back at them, still half in shock.

"Hurry, Aello!" Tobi cried. Eric rushed over and immediately began working at Al's lock as I looked to the door anxiously.

"Aello!" Lark yelled desperately.

That's when I heard the clatter of rushing footsteps and shouts. It was that instant that I made a split decision. I jumped to my left, ignoring the sudden shouts coming from my squad behind me, dashing to the doors as the guards appeared on the other side. They almost halted in surprise as I jumped as high and long as I could, raising my two feet in the air and kicking an Eraser square in the snout before landing behind the crowd. A few turned in shock, but I didn't see much else as I leapt back to my feet and began sprinting down the long corridor, leaving my squad far behind.

I could hear Eric screams of agony echo behind me. Surely, the guards had advanced upon them. I pushed to run faster, turning left, right, any direction to leave the sounds far behind me and suddenly, I was back in the main hallway, the one I'd arrived in the first night.

My lungs were protesting as I continued to sprint until I was right out that door, bursting out into open night air, cold and brisk, into freedom. I stopped then, and fought to catch my breath, hearing no footsteps behind me. I was washed over by a wave of relief, but it was short-lived.

My expression hardened and I turned away as I heard one final shriek from the main building, the sound sending a shiver down my spine.

"AELLO!"

* * *

**_Hello everyone! Finished all my midterms and I am done half of the next chapter so be expecting a new update within 2ish weeks ! I hope you liked this chapter! Please Review I'll answer any question or reviews you have! _**

_Sgt. Sporky- I was actually going to give her a crossbow but then I though bow and arrows were pretty BA. But I will remember that for the future! Thanks! _

_Shortlittlepixie- Thank god the mid terms are done! And yeah trying to get in a little of everyone's back ground story! _

_Lilac rose6- Eric is great I love writing him! He has awesome English powers! :p hope you like how I write him though : )_

_Greeneyedgeek- yeee they were taken along with all the squad which you probably realized in this chapter: p_


	10. Feline

**Aello POV**

I felt as if my legs might give way soon and with the sun slowly approaching, I needed to start thinking about finding some sunglasses to shade my sensitive eyes. As if on cue, I spotted a department store with a sunglasses rack near the door. Oh-so-casually, I walked past, swiping a pair of black shades and putting them on. With that, I released a breath, one that I felt I'd been holding for a while. The tension in my shoulders did not ease though, and I cast a glance both ways to make sure nobody was watching or trailing me.

I did not realize where my legs were taking me, it wasn't until I saw the torn, dirty, and old fire pit did I feel the sinking feeling in my gut.

I had left them. Left them for dead even, maybe. There was no getting around the fact that I'd abandoned my friends. Hell, it was even the first time I'd done it, abandoned people, that is. However it'd never before felt like I'd been stabbed in the abdomen, the knife ever-twisting with finality every step I took farther from my squad. Was I becoming weak?

I sat on the ground, tilting my head between my knees and closing my eyes. They had cried out my name, their voices shock-filled and terrified at my betrayal. What use would I have been cooped up there with the rest of them? I saw a chance so I took it, simple as that. Still though, justifying it to myself didn't get rid of that pit in my chest.

I was distracted from my train of thought when I suddenly heard a rustle nearby. Quirking my ear, I shifted, narrowing my eyes and surveying the area suspiciously. The camp had seemed vacant before, or had I missed something?

I began poking around the abandoned campsite, pushing aside brushes and staring hard into the branches of trees above me. Nothing.

That's when I saw it; two large amber eyes peering at me from a nearby bush, inhuman and curious. I let myself relax a little bit, it was just some animal. I took a few steps closer, cautiously in case it was still dangerous. What was it? I was about two meters away when I heard a loud grunt from above. I whirled around just in time to see a mass of orange and brown heading right for me.

I spun around with snake-like reflexes, avoiding the tangle of colour by mere inches. I turned on my heels to find myself staring down a great cat, its haunches gathered as it prepared to pounce. My brain barely had time to process that what was staring me down was a cheetah, I only had mere moments though, this time the creature from the bushes launched itself at me. I raised my arms in defence as a young male lion hurled through the air, unconsciously feeling myself jumping into the air and higher over it like leap-frog. I sprinted away to gain some distance and time before turning around, dropping into a fighting stance. Instinctively, I felt my long fangs drop from my gums, poison dripping off of them as I hissed furiously at the great African cat.

I calculated the cheetah's falter in step to be hesitance as the lion from before joined it. As if the situation wasn't weird enough, they both shared a glance, and with that, bounded off, leaving me standing alone, confused as hell.

I let myself relax, feeling my fangs retract as I warily returned to the campsite. What the actual heck.

XX

It wasn't long after that I heard the rustle of brush again, but this time I was expecting it. I jumped to my feet, spinning around with my arms raised in an offensive stance only to face a girl around the age of sixteen staring at me from behind a tree. She was followed by a much younger looking boy lurking by her legs, around the age of 12.

The girl's eyes widened as we met eyes, followed by a beaming, genuine smile that lit up her whole face. I lowered my arms and stared openly at the strange duo.

"Hey there, Zippy," she greeted warmly, striding towards me without breaking pace, "No need for the stank eye." I backed away, hitting a rock and tripping. I got up at lightning pace, facing both of them.

"Who are you?" I demanded. Both of them had fairly tanned skin and light brunette hair, the girl's braided and tied to one side. Prominent freckles dotted her arms and face. She wore a white tank top with loose-fitting faded jeans. The boy was probably up to her shoulders in height, his own hair a mess of brown on top of his head, his black shirt reading "Slayer" written across it. They looked like just two siblings who had stumbled upon this random campsite, except for the suspicious smirk across the girl's face.

"Wasn't our introduction memorable enough?" the girl pouted.

"What?"

"Well, we were a little bit rude, Mon…" the boy said knowingly, "I knew he wasn't going to hurt us!"

"Well, I had to make sure he was what he smelled like. Now, if he'd just held still for a second…" she chastised the boy, as if that was totally common knowledge.

"Um, smelled like?" I interrupted them. Puzzle pieces started connecting in my head. No way…

"Cats have great noses," she nodded. _Click!_

"So, you're telling me that you two are… cats. And it was _you two_ that just attacked me." It just was taking a few seconds for me to adjust to the fact that these people were supposed shape-shifters.

"Yes, quite so."

I hesitated, raising an eyebrow, "Prove it."

"Well I could change to my cheetah form… but I would have strip for that, and I'd rather not in front of my little bro, if you don't mind," she said cheekily, plucking at the end of her braid absentmindedly.

I shrugged my shoulders, feeling awkward, when she let out a deep sigh that caused me to look back up. Her brother pulled a face and turned around, his long fingers covering his eyes as the girl, to my utter amazement, began to pull her shirt up until it was about halfway. She looked up at me through her lashes, grinning mischievously as I tried to look everywhere but at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, does this bother you?" she asked.

"N-no," I spluttered.

"Well, just to be safe, I'll go behind this tree," she winked before disappearing behind said tree, her jeans and shirt hitting the ground lightly. Mere moments later, I heard a growling noise and I caught a glimpse of her human body as her whole body transformed in a millisecond and she landed softly on all four paws.

She now had large amber eyes, her pupils slit that were staring me down. Her soft golden pelt was freckled with dark brown spots that the sun gleamed off of. Her tail whipped back and forth as she sat on her back paws, watching me silently and expectantly.

"Holy fu-" I was quickly cut off by a loud snarl coming from the cat's mouth. Her little brother laughed as she began circling me, feinting leaps like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn.

"Okay, I might believe you," I mumbled quietly. The cheetah paused, looking into my eyes before sitting down and cocking her head to the side.

"She's asking why you were at the Mortem," the boy offered when the silence persisted. His hair fell just bellow his matching amber eyes, his own face cut and bruised from unknown injuries.

"What do you mean she is asking, and how did you guys know about that place?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow and the boy who was almost my age.

"We can sort of hear each other's thoughts… it was pretty cool for, like, an hour, but now it's just annoying. And Monica and I can smell it on you, it's disgusting really and only one place could have such a stench," he nodded knowingly. I heard a low rumbling noise, which I quickly recognized as purring as I saw the cheetah wrap her tail around the boy, swatting him on the nose.

"I was captured…" I said wary now.

"How?" The boy echoed Monica's thoughts.

"I went inside trying to investigate…" I muttered now looking to the ground. What I didn't say was that I'd been with my squad, that I'd deserted them.

"Monica…" the boy's voice hushed, "How can you stand to judge so quickly? After what you have been through?" The defiant cheetah attempted to roll its eyes and hissed in frustration. This was the weirdest thing to watch.

"She's wondering why you went in alone?" he sighed, turning his attention back to me.

"Why doesn't she change back then, I hate to be talking through a translator." I snapped at the rumbling beast, then looked back at him, "No offense." With a roll of her eyes, Monica walked back to the tree, I heard a grumble before it went quiet again.

"Clothes!" a female voice ordered expectantly. The boy tossed some behind the tree, his eyes tightly shut. Only a few seconds later, she walked back around, her expression unpleasant.

"Thanks, Pounce," she said to her brother, then her stern eyes pointed at me, "Why."

"I didn't go alone, I went with a group - I was part of a group of people like me…"

"Snake people?" she asked. How had she known what I was?

"How do you-"

"I can sniff out others' powers – yeah, I know it's weird, but no more than wanting to swallowing live rats whole, am I right?" she crossed her arms defiantly.

"No, um, just people who have powers. None of them share snake DNA though," I paused, taking a deep breath, "We got a letter from someone with the initials R.H." At that, Pounce let out a loud hiss, his eyes lighting up with fury. Looking back at his sister, Monica mirrored his expression.

"You really must be even more stupid than I thought!" Monica shot out angrily, "A mysterious person asks you to come to some big scary building with no further explanation and you just _go_? What, do you just have a death wish?"

"Well, I'm not dead!" I pointed out irritably.

"Clearly, but where is your group?" she said, her voice dropping to angry edge. I bit my tongue, my eyes falling to the ground

"I had to leave… there was only one opportunity and it was right in front of me. It was either I leave then or ALL of us were trapped in there!" I tried. Monica stared at me her amber eyes giving nothing away,

"How long were you in there? A day or two? Well lucky you for getting out alive. Wanna know what's happening to them? Because I know – hell, I've LIVED what's happening to them. They're either dead right now or well on their way, being tortured for who even knows what purpose. They're probably calling out your name this second in pure agony and hatred for deserting them," her voice was cruel as she pointed her finger at me, "So, what you need to do-"

I snapped, fury blocking out the rest of what she was saying as my fangs unsheathed. I sprinted forward, feeling my self-control draining away as her eyes screwed up in frustration.

A sharp blow to my side had me hissing in pain as I keeled over, glaring up at Monica with slit eyes, "You don't know me."

Craning my neck, her brother stood slightly to the side, twisting around Monica protectively.

"You stay away from her," he tried to say strongly, but his voice came out weak and cracked. Monica pushed him aside gently, pacing towards me.

"If you'd let me finish, Mr. Can't-Handle-Reality-Checks," her shoulders heaved in a big sigh, "Just… in a situation of fight or flight, you got the heck out of there. Why do you think that was?"

"Instinct," I answered, feeling dumb on the ground and rising to my feet.

"Okay. Well, it's not too late to change that instinct of flight," she bit her lip. I looked at her, my eyebrows pushed together.

"What do you mean?"

"Monica!" Pounce hissed, she lifted a hand though and silenced him.

"Pounce and I were thinking of going-"

"-Those were only dreams, Monica!"

"Pounce," she sent him another silencing look, "We believe that they might be holding our sister…"

"You have another sister?" I asked quizzically.

"Yeah, Michelle would be sixteen this year," she stopped, closing her eyes, "Though I haven't seen her since I was ten."

"I know she's there! I've been trying to find this place again for years; they have a lot of ways of throwing people off their tracks. Seeing you though, I know we're close, close to saving my twin," she straightened her back and Pounce smiled a little behind her, "And, well, snake boy, you look like you could handle this with Pounce and me."

"How can you even trust him, he nearly ripped your throat out two minutes ago?" Pounce protested, grabbing her shoulder protectively.

"You," she looked at me, "What's your name?"

"Aello."

"See, Pounce, the Mortem has taken something from Aello too," she paused, looking back to me, "We all have a chance here to rectify some wrongs here. I don't think any of us want to ruin that chance, we have to work together."

"You are insane," I whispered in disbelief, "I'm in."

"I knew you would be," she smirked, patting her disgruntled brother on the head as he opened his mouth to speak again.

"How in the hell are we supposed to do this though? I went in with six others, all strong, and we still got captured." I questioned.

"Well this time you have me and Pounce," she winked and her brother grinned, "I escaped a building just like the Mortem without a scratch, all with Pounce on my back. Plus, you know this place already; together it shouldn't be a problem, if you don't hold us back, that is."

"I seriously can't believe we're even considering this, that was years ago and a total fluke," Pounce grumbled.

"Hush," she rolled her eyes, "Plus, Aello, if we get captured, at least you can be with your dear old friends. Bet they'll be happy to see you."

She held out her hand and I stared at it. And she was asking me if _I_was the one with the death wish? She seemed so sure of herself though, and her words seemed truthful. She was right. I had to go back for my friends. Without another thought, I grabbed her hand and shook it once.

"Deal."

**Ace POV**

My bones felt as though they would surely break and cease to exist under the constant beating of the guards. I'd soon be a helpless puddle on the ground, numb to all feeling. Days grew longer, my power and hope waning; we were never going to leave.

A week ago Aello had left us, and at first we prayed he would be coming back to bust us out, but it's been days. If he's not been recaptured or dead, he must've just left us to rot here.

Should I be angry though? The immediate acid bubbling in my stomach told me right away that he shouldn't of ran. No one else in the squad would have left us.

I turn to watch Eric across the room where his cage had been stored away from the rest of us as he struggled to get comfortable without irritating his bloody gashes and bruises. The guards never stopped having their fun with him after his outburst, making sure he was too weak to even sit up straight.

I swallowed a large lump in my throat, feeling a body shift to the right of me. I looked up to find Tobi's eyes looking down upon me.

"Hey," I muttered, she said nothing, only gave me a nod and looking away. My heart sank in my chest.

XX

I don't know how long I sat there, waiting for something, until I become aware that there were no words being spoken at all, just silence with the occasional whimper or cry from another cage. Silence was more torturous than the screaming.

I shifted my head when I heard a low mummer to my side though, sitting up to find the Eraser named Bryan holding a phone to his ear.

"Where?" he demanded, a gleam of anger in his eyes "Shit, okay, I'll get there." He closed his phone, scanning the area before exiting the room in a puff.

It was not a minute later that I heard a loud scream from the door outside. For a second, all you could hear was scuffling as everyone moved to the bars of their cages, straining their eyes to see what was happening.

"What the hell was that?" I heard Al mutter. A loud banging noise sounded outside in the hallways as the noise began to grow nearer. Louder and louder, the noise became until a voice was clear and I heard the cursing and grunts of Erasers outside. We were all too afraid to get our hopes up as we pressed up against our cage doors even harder, desperate to see our saviour barrelling through that door.

Then, as if on cue, a large body blew open the door and fell in the middle with an _oof_! I recognized it as Bryan as he stayed there for a second, stunned and afraid staring at a figure we couldn't see just past the door frame.

In strode a young girl around the age of sixteen, her hair braided to one side, her eyes wild as she stared the bloody Eraser down. She let out an exaggerated sigh before walking up to the confused Eraser and laying a steel-toed boot on his chest.

"You're a real ugly one, aren't you?" she laughed, lifting her foot high into the air and stomping it down on Bryan's groin. He let out a strangled cry in agony, and she reeled back and stomped him again and again, a boy walking in behind her and sort of laughing slightly.

The room was buzzing with chatter and cheers until I heard Phaearea's voice rise above the madness, "Hey, over here!"

As if remembering she was in a room full of crowded people, the girl quickly kicked the side of the Eraser's head, knocking him unconscious before rushing to a Phaearea's cage and beginning on the lock.

"Why, hello," the girl grinned devilishly as she looked at Phaearae through the bars.

"Um, hi," Phaearea answered feebly.

The boy then started working on some locks on the other side of the room. From the corner of my eye, I saw another figure emerge from the doorway and I gaped in surprise.

"Aello!" my voice was drowned out by the loud shout of the rest of the squad. I couldn't believe it.

"I'm here now," he shouted determinedly, lunging forward towards Lark's lock and breaking it quickly. A few seconds later, she had climbed out and with a quick pat on Aello's back, she began to help on

"Aello!" I screamed, my voice drained from exhaustion as he began to clip at my cage, "You came back." He held out his hand to help me out.

"Yes, I came back," He spoke softly, his eyes warm for maybe the first time ever. Once I was out, I began to help with Eric's cage and Al helped me pull his limp body from the cage.

"Michelle!" A nearby scream sounded "Michelle, where are you!"

"Monica, we need to leave, the second wave of guards are going to be here anytime now!" Aello shouted back to the girl who had hit Bryan.

"Aello, how did you - where did you…" Phaearae began but Aello shook his head. Now was not the time.

"We can talk about that later, right now we need to get the hell out of here!" he pushed Phaearae forward, "Lead the rest out, I'm going to get Monica and Pounce."

Phaearae hesitated for a second before Aello pushed her again, "Go!" This time Phaearae snapped into action, looking over us.

"Let's get out of here," she announced in a loud, commanding voice, "Al, you'll have to carry Eric, I think he is still out from the last beating."

"Got him," Al responded, pulling Eric over his shoulder fireman-style.

"Let's go!" She yelled, running out the room followed by every weak shriveling person in that room. I began to run when I stopped; I had to get Aello.

I ran back finding him grabbing that Monica girl. Cages around me shook with the bodies crashing to the floors screaming out pleas to be saved. I tried to block this out as I watched Aello struggle with Monica. I ran over and grabbed Aello's shoulder.

"Monica we have to go!" he shouted.

"No!" she screamed, "She has to be here! I'm not leaving without her!" Now the boy began to pull on Monica's arm as well. I watched silently as tears spilled onto Monica's cheeks.

"Monica, the guards will be here soon!"

Right then, I heard footsteps as a few guards barrelled into the room.

"In here!" one shouted behind him.

"Shit," I muttered. Looking behind my shoulder and to my left, I spotted the fallen Bryan with the long pole still attached to his belt. I grabbed it quickly, standing up against the guards as they charged. One by one I stung them, swinging and hitting them in the sides of their head, but soon found myself being overpowered

"Aello!" I yelled, now pinned to one wall as an Eraser snapped its jaws at me, his warm saliva hitting my face. His weight was suddenly lifted off me and I widened my eyes to see the girl with the braided hair giving me a curt nod before turning to bash the Eraser on the side of the head with her elbow.

Aello came to my side, grabbing my hand before pulling me along with the girl and boy to the door. I could hear the speaker blaring out rushed, angry instructions that sounded like gibberish as we dashed the few final yards to the large door that lead out of here, leaping over fallen Eraser every now and then. We busted through into open air, running so fast I felt like my feet would catch fire.

"Over here," the boy, Pounce, said as he grabbed onto Monica's side.

We dove through a few bushes, crawling madly until we found the rest of the Squad sprawled out on the ground in different areas in some clearing, all heaving with exhaustion and adrenalin. Phaerae and Tobi were kneeled over Eric, giving attention to his wounded body and trying to find some makeshift bandages from the foliage around.

To my side, Al and Lark were hugging, Al's hand rubbing the length of her back soothingly as she silently sobbed into his shoulder. A moment of vulnerability Lark barely showed was now flooding out. However, none of that mattered for the time being…

We had made it.

**Thank you Thank you Thank you Fazzems the best Beta Reader of all time! big thanks to her ! :)**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! please review and tell me what you think! **


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